Hull KR v Warrington Wolves: Willie Peters all about defence as Super League waits for weather to turn

From the cold, damp start in February to the warm summer months and a return to attritional conditions at the business end of the season, there is no room for one-trick ponies.

Teams need to be adaptable and patient as they wait for the weather to turn.

Hull KR learnt a harsh lesson last week in challenging conditions at Salford Red Devils, Marc Sneyd taking advantage of poor discipline and sloppy errors to help inflict a first defeat of the campaign on Willie Peters' men.

At a time of the year when it is all about the result, Salford played smarter rugby to leave the Robins looking for a response against Warrington Wolves.

Despite the setback, Peters has seen enough in the opening three rounds to convince him that Rovers can churn out wins until the shackles come off during the summer months.

Asked about the positives from the early weeks, the KR boss said: "The discipline the first two weeks and our resolve in defence. We haven't been broken too often.

"Defence for me is number one – we'll always be a defence-focused team first. The reason for that is it's around attitude and working hard for each other.

"The other stuff will come once the sun comes out and the fields start to harden up. They enjoy attacking, like most teams in the comp.

"Super League as a brand wants to promote free-flowing attacking rugby league – but defence for me will always be number one. We need to get that right this week."

Only St Helens have scored more points than a Warrington side fresh from resounding home wins against Hull FC and Castleford Tigers.

With one of the best defensive records in the competition so far, Peters is backing Rovers to keep the free-scoring Wolves quiet – as long as they display the traits that have underpinned their improvement under the Australian.

"We've looked at how they attack but we're not going to worry too much about that," said Peters, who has named an unchanged squad.

"If we stick to our systems, work hard for each other and keep turning up, it will go a long way in achieving what we want."

Warrington have flattered to deceive in recent times, finishing 11th in 2022 before fading badly last season.

A star-studded squad has been entrusted to rookie head coach Sam Burgess who has been tasked with creating a winning mentality.

While wary of the threats posed by Warrington, Peters is simply focused on giving the Craven Park faithful reasons to cheer on a cold Thursday night in east Hull.

"They've got a well-balanced team," said Peters, whose side won their opening home match against Leeds Rhinos.

"They've got good halves with a young kid (Leon Hayes) coming through, good middles, fast wingers, Toby King is a handful – you could name players all over the park.

"For us, on the back of the weekend, all we're going to concentrate on is what we can do and do that well.

"We're back at home and really looking forward to playing in front of our fans. The East Stand is a sell-out again and it could be another (complete) sell-out.

"We just want to give our fans something to cheer about. We respect Warrington but aren't worrying too much about them."

The Wolves have lost one half-back to injury in former KR man Josh Drinkwater but are poised to welcome back the best in the competition.

That is the opinion of Peters who rates England captain George Williams highly.

"We've planned and spoken about them having their best team, whatever that looks like," said Peters. "George is part of their best team.

"He's a very, very good player, a good runner of the football. But to be honest, it's not a bad thing for us to have guys like George playing because coming off losing last week, you want to test yourself against the best – and there's no doubt he's the best half-back in Super League.

"It's going to be a good challenge for us. We're looking forward to welcoming him here."

The contest pits Peters against Burgess, a former colleague at South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Peters, who reached the Challenge Cup final and led Rovers to a fourth-place Super League finish in his debut season last year, has backed Burgess to make his mark at Warrington.

"He'll do well big Sammy," said Peters.

"He's a good mate of mine. I've got bucket loads of respect for him as a player and a person.

"He's going to be a very good coach. I know what a Sam Burgess-coached side will bring.

"We'll worry about ourselves but there's a lot of respect there."