Well, we seem to have blinked and an entire half of a season has come and gone. We’ve gone from the rainy climes of early February to the somehow even rainier climes of mid-June and at the end of that time, Hull KR find themselves sitting in third. THIRD! Somebody pinch me, I may be dreaming.
I wasn’t going to write a half time report for Hull KR at first, with the website not having a contributor for every team (we are still on the lookout, email us if interested), it hardly seemed fair too only document my own team, but then Ian Judson sent me his report for Hull FC (which can be found here), and that felt like a challenge, so he’s the one to blame.
To be fair, even if we just have the mid-point reports from these two teams, it offers an interesting dichotomy between two historic rivals and how their seasons can so wildly differ. I found it interesting reading Ian’s report that although his disappointments and frustrations were obvious, it finished with a vein of optimism and hope for the future, despite the torrid time the Arlie Birds have been through so far.
Optimism was perhaps more rife over on the East side of Hull at the start of the season, following a season in which the team finished fourth and made it to Wembley. I don’t mind admitting though that even with our relatively successful 2023 season, I still felt a few cynical niggles before the season began. I’ve been a Rovers supporter for long enough to know that their fortunes are anything but predictable, and just because we’d seen improvements, that didn’t mean we could expect them to continue.
Our recruitment pre-season seemed on the surface to be very shrewd. There was a mixed response to Oliver Gildart’s arrival, especially following his brief spell at Leigh last season, and there were questions asked amongst the fan base when Rhys Kennedy was released to make room on the quota for Jai Whitbread. Kennedy had not pulled up any trees at Craven Park, but he was slowly building momentum in our pack, and it was a shame to lose him. The most eye-catching signing at Hull KR though was probably the acquisition of Tyrone May from the Catalans Dragons, with the thought of a flourishing partnership with Mikey Lewis exciting the Rovers fans and frightening the hell out of everyone else.
After all the optimism amongst fans, and sense of creeping unease on my part, the season started in the best way it could from a Hull KR fans perspective, with a win away at our old rivals Hull FC, nilling them on their home turf for the second season in a row. While the score line gave us cause for jubilation, the performance as a whole was imperfect. It was clear there were still kinks to work out amongst the squad, especially in the back line.
The original back line configuration of new signing Peta Hiku at full back and fellow newcomer Niall Evalds on the wing lasted for the first few weeks, when its shaky foundations were laid bare with back to back defeats against Salford (away) and Warrington (home). Hiku had come over from the NRL with considerable fanfare, amidst talk of him wanting to revert back to the full back position, but it just wasn’t clicking with him there at Hull KR, and he was soon moved back into the centres with Evalds being shifted to full back, and with that, the team seemed to find a higher gear.
Once this change was made, Rovers went on a five game winning streak in the league and cup, only being found out on an away trip to France against a game Catalans side, following which we got back on the horse by beating Wigan and St Helens back-to-back at home in two accomplished and professional performances which included us humbling the might Saints by putting forty points past them. At time of writing, we haven’t been beaten at home since a narrow 20-22 loss to the Warrington Wolves in March.
It is undoubtedly our home form which has seen us rise to the lofty heights we currently occupy. The team and the supporters (the club has sold out its home allocation for ten consecutive games up to the 17th June) have turned Craven Park into a fortress.
That being said, there have been disappointments so far, the biggest of which has been our patchy away form. For as strong as we are at home, we have looked lost on a few occasions when we’ve been away from Craven Park, with the aforementioned loss to Catalans and a loss to Warrington best emphasising this. If we are serious about being a top-tier side, we need to be bringing some of the fire we show at home on the road with us, otherwise we will stay in our place as top four also-rans. Better than being top-six, sure, but still doesn’t win any trophies.
Speaking of not winning trophies, the Challenge Cup exit at the hands of Wigan Warriors also stung. It stung all the more because of the comprehensive way in which we were beaten, but I feel very strongly that our dry run when it comes to trophies is a monkey we need to shake off quickly (read more here), and really felt like this season was a great chance to lift that famous cup at Wembley, but it wasn’t to be.
Sitting here at the halfway point in the position we currently occupy, it would be easy for me to gloat and fawn over what we’ve achieved so far, but I know that the hard work is still yet to be done. We can’t afford to take our eye off the ball now. There’s no prizes for being third in mis-season after all, and our upcoming run of games can either be seen as an opportunity, or a potential banana skin, and on the basis of what we’ve seen so far, I am quietly confident that we should avoid most of those banana skins in the coming weeks and months.
Going back to the subject of our recruitment, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s turned out that most if not every decision on that front has paid off. Oliver Gildhart (despite his current injury) has provided an extra dimension to our back line, even managing to displace Tom Opacic from the squad when the team is at full strength. Pika Hiku has been stellar since his move into the centres, with his running being a deadly source of our attacking potency. The late addition of Joe Burgess was also an inspired pick-up, making our already strong attacking play even more dangerous with his speed and try-scoring ability. As expected, Tyrone May has formed a dangerous partnership with our golden goose, Mikey Lewis, providing a great juxtaposition to Mikey’s mazy runs through the defence with his calculating approach to the game.
Our two stand-out signings, however, turned out to be two deals which went under the radar a bit prior to the star of the season. The first is second-row forward Kelepi Tanginoa, who arrived from the relegated Wakefield side alongside a similarly impressive Jai Whitbread. It’s always a risk shopping from relegated sides, but Tanginoa is a great example of finding a diamond in the rough. Tough-running front rowers have been something we’ve lacked in the previous few seasons, and Tanginoa’s impact, usually from the bench, has been incredibly impressive all season. Secondly, and probably my overall pick for our signing of the season, is Niall Evalds. On reflection, his success shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise, given his top-flight experience, but his lack of superstar hype is offset by the impact he’s made, especially since his switch to full-back. He’s provided us with a effective kick return on most occasions, and has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time, which has resulted in a number of tries scored.
Overall then, I’m delighted, obviously, by our performance thus far. If you’d have told me five years ago that we’d be sitting third in the Super League at any time of the season and I’d have thought you were stark raving mad, so to be there at the half-way point is a big achievement. However, I do recognise that our position there is fragile. We’re only two points ahead of Warrington and Salford in fourth and fifth respectively, so we can’t afford to let our concentration slip now. The feeling of positivity around the club feels like we’re building something special, but we need something to show for it, so hopefully the hard work we’ve shown so far continues and we can work towards that ever-elusive trophy.
Written by Nathan Major-Kershaw (Site editor & Hull KR fan)
Gerrim Onside! 
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