Castleford Tigers v Hull Kingston Rovers: Willie Peters ready for anything as rivals adopt back-up plan
CASTLEFORD TIGERS may have been pressed into something of an emergency back-up plan this week - but Hull KR boss Willie Peters and his players are guaranteed not to be taking anything for granted.
Castleford confirmed on Wednesday night that coach Ryan Carr would not be in charge of the Tigers for tonight’s derby clash at the OneBore Stadium.
The statement came just over 24 hours after reports emerged online that Carr had been stood down by the club pending an investigation, although the club insist Carr will be absent for “personal reasons”.
Director of rugby Chris Chester, assistant-coach Scott Murrell and Rob Nickolay, Tigers’ general manager football and club operations, will take charge of the team against the reigning Super League champions.
They will be supported by club legend and Man of Steel Adrian Vowles who happens to be in the UK on holiday.
Regardless of who is in charge, a Tigers’ team that has proved inconsistent all year look likely to come up against defending Super League champions who may have turned a corner by eradicating their own inconsistencies.
Rovers head west on the back of convincing wins against Hull FC and Bradford Bulls, thanks to the kind of solid performances that Peters hopes will banish to the past the kind of displays which heralded a run of three defeats in four games and which briefly saw them drop out of the top six.
Peters is fully aware of the unpredictable nature of playing a Tigers team who one week beat leaders Leeds Rhinos before being hammered in quick succession by Wakefield Trinity and Warrington Wolves.
“We always respect the opposition,” said Peters, talking before news about about Carr’s absence tonight was confirmed. “And we respect Cas and what they're capable of.
“We know at home it's always a challenging game because it's a tight stadium, a shorter field and they get behind their team there.
“The last two weeks I've been really pleased with parts of the game. Now, for us, it's about doing it for longer periods, doing it for a full game. And when we do that, we're a difficult team to beat.
“One thing that I know internally that you can't question is how connected everyone is and how tight they are. Energy levels, as I said before, that can change depending on loads, depending on, as I said, humans wake up and you might feel a certain energy level one day and different the next.
“But what hasn't changed since I've been here is the connection and the togetherness in the group. I think it's just shown the last sort of two weeks that when it's mattered that we still have something left to give.”
With regards to Carr’s future, it is unclear if or when the Australian will return to the helm. He took charge in pre-season on a three-year deal having previously been coach of Featherstone Rovers and assistant boss at Leeds Rhinos in 2019.
The Tigers’ statement said: “We can confirm that head coach Ryan Carr will not be in attendance at the Hull KR game this coming Friday. We can confirm that this is due to personal reasons, contrary to the reports on social media.
“In the interim, Chris Chester, Rob Nickolay and Scott Murrell will lead our on- and off- field operations.
"This leadership group will be heavily supported by Adrian Vowles and we thank Adrian for offering his support at short notice.
"We will not be making any other further comment at this stage and we urge our fans to once again get behind our team this coming Friday.”