I'm pretty sure the difference in enthusiasm between their players and ours is down to Hudgell's influence. Rovers's gates would undoubtedly decline if they began losing in a convincing manner to FC on a regular basis.

A whole portion of their success in their Super League era has been to spite Hull FC. Hudgell knows this as he's instigated the main part of it. So taking into consideration this coupled with his own pride, I wouldn't be surprised that soon as a player arrives at Hull KR, they're immediately indoctrinated in how important the derby games are for the club.

So what I'm saying is, I'm not sure what can be done.

Shaun Wane seems to do the same thing for Wigan. Which seems to work for them as they compete with all other teams, contrary to Rovers. Maybe we should copy what Wigan do before a derby?

I think we try to play down the importance of these games because of the expectation that we should win and the extra pressure in a derby that creates. We looked OK after the 40/20 and try but when Hall intercepted we got nervy and tried too hard. KR as underdogs feed off that - and played well tbf. But that's what derbies are about isn't it?

But the thing is, it clearly isn't the same as any other match. Regardless of whether or not we want to view it that wat or think it deserves to treated different, the opposition are making it so. In that sense we should prepare for Rovers differently in the same way that every team should be prepared for slightly differently. I'm not saying we should make winning those 3 games the priority of our season, but we should still be aiming to win them as we should all games, and Rovers' increased intensity should be something we make ourselves ready for in the same way as we would, say, Brough/Sinfield's kicking games, Tomkins' kick returns, or Warrington's offloading. It's a facet of our opponent's game that we seem to be underestimating/struggling to handle sometimes.

......you are simply ace

'kin 'ell have they allowed you to have an account...........mods!!!!

I agree with Spackler,
I was previously of the view, like Gentle and many others, that we treat the Rovers game as just another 2 pts. But I’m starting to change my view on this.
The reason ? We arn’t picking up enough 2 pts against Rovers and we aren’t really playing that well whenever we play them. There is a pattern in my opinion.
If we play any of the top 4/5 I feel we go into the game with more intensity then we do teams from outside that top group. Even though we have lost more than we’ve won of those “bigger games” I always feel we are “up for it” at least for 60 mins.
However when we play teams outside that top group we just don’t have that same intensity, Call it what you want,……. we don’t turn up,…. were off the boil….we looked tired, All the old clichés weve heard so many times when we've lost games against Crusaders, Salford, Cas, Wakefield, Widnes. Yes, the top teams sometimes hit a banana skin with these sides too, but for the most part these teams are put to the sword with a ruthless efficiency bordering on bullying. If we seriously see ourselves as a force then something has to change, and I’m sure Gaz will be a catalyst for that change.
But at the moment we go into these games half cooked,….under prepared (2 more clichés) so often its just not funny any more..
But here’s were it hurts - we treat games against our old enemy like they are not top 4, and they prepare for us like WE ARE top 4, like their life depends on it., like its their Cup Final.
And like on Saturday they are able to put in 1 off performances that often defy what they have any right to do. That’s not been disrespectful to them, On the contrary its impressive. On Saturday their intensity was hugely impressive for me, They looked a good side to me. Some may say we made them look good, I don’t think so. In my opinion for 70 mins they were very good. Will they play like that again this year? I doubt it, except when we turn up again.
We will only start to actually treat those 2pts against Rovers with real value and with a chance of taking more than we lose if we start to treat the game like we do all other BIG games. Our Derby is a big game no matter how you look at it and I want to start winning a few by being the best. Not scraping over the line.
The ruthless streak needs to be part of our make up now, not next season and we need to start with raising the ante against the red and whites because at the moment we are not matching their passion or intensity for the war. And it shows.
There you are, rant over.