Hull KR new boy Niall Evalds ready to embrace positional switch and put injury struggles behind him

Once the nerves subside, thoughts turn to making a good impression and laying down an early marker.

For someone like Niall Evalds who has not played since May and faces the prospect of a positional switch, there is no time to waste after linking up with Hull KR on Monday.

With just 17 appearances to his name in two seasons, the 30-year-old has already wasted enough recovering from injuries.

It is little wonder, then, that Evalds – a full-back by trade – has no intention of fighting his proposed move to the wing.

"I just want to get out on the pitch and play rugby league," Evalds told The Yorkshire Post.

"It's been a tough couple of years with injuries and not getting out on the pitch as much as I would have liked.

"Willie (Peters, head coach) has said he sees me playing quite a lot of rugby on the wing. I do feel I'm a full-back but I can play on the wing.

"I want to be able to play both positions and help the team out wherever I can. I've missed playing rugby and haven't felt like a rugby player for two years.

"I'm confident my luck is going to change and I'll have two good years at KR."

Evalds began his career on the wing for Salford Red Devils but it has been almost six years since he last started a game on the flank.

With New Zealand international Peta Hiku earmarked for the full-back position and Ryan Hall locked in on the left, Evalds appears to be competing for the right-wing spot.

Small in stature in relative terms, Evalds will put his own twist on the modern-day role of a winger.

"I'll probably play a little bit differently to Ryan Hall," said Evalds. “I’m not the size of a 100-plus kilo bloke.

"We've spoken about little variations to it and maybe having a bit of a free role sometimes on the wing by drifting into the game.

"Part and parcel of being a winger now is you get through a lot of work. It'll be a bit of a different pre-season working on a few positions to get used to them.

"I've played wing before so hopefully it all comes back to me in pre-season."

Evalds' first objective is to be in optimum shape for round one after a string of upper-body injuries.

The Halifax native ruptured his biceps before fracturing and dislocating his shoulder in 2022.

After recovering from damage to the AC joint in his other shoulder, Evalds succumbed to a pectoral tear in May to bring an abrupt end to his three-year stay at Castleford Tigers.

It was a case of what might have been for Evalds after winning the Lance Todd Trophy in the Challenge Cup final in a promising start to life with the Tigers.

"My time at Cas was a bit of a mixed bag," said Evalds, who ended his debut season in 2021 with a first England cap.

"I loved my first year when we got to the Challenge Cup final and I played most games. The last two were decimated by injuries.

"I'm really disappointed because I wanted to be out there performing for the fans and my team-mates – and doing what I love doing.

"Unfortunately it's part of rugby league. My injuries have all come together at once.

"The physios had never really seen anything like it. They were all contact, freak injuries and weren't related to each other.

"I've spent a lot of time the last couple of years wishing it had gone differently but I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. It's a tough sport and it happens.

"Every time I went out on the pitch I gave it my best."

The Wembley loss to St Helens in 2021 made it a hat-trick of painful defeats for Evalds after losing a Grand Final and a Challenge Cup decider with Salford.

He has renewed hope of making it fourth time lucky following his move to the ambitious Robins.

Rovers came agonisingly close to ending their trophy drought in a golden-point defeat to Leigh Leopards in this year's Challenge Cup final before being outclassed by eventual Super League champions Wigan Warriors in the play-offs.

With Tyrone May and Oliver Gildart among the other fresh faces at Craven Park, Peters' men are expected to compete for honours again in 2024.

The key to KR's long-term hopes is avoiding second-season syndrome, according to Evalds.

"I've played in some big games and want to get back to doing that," he said.

"Hull KR have got the ambition to get to finals and win finals consistently. It's hard to stay in that top four but KR are really determined to break that mould.

"The squad last year was outstanding. Hopefully us new signings can add little bits to that.

"It's up to us now to make sure it's not a one season thing."