Hull KR boss Willie Peters discusses controversial incidents after letting lead slip at Wigan Warriors

Willie Peters has declared that he would never coach his players to stay down after Jai Whitbread was controversially sin-binned in Hull KR's narrow loss to League Leaders' Shield rivals Wigan Warriors.

The Rovers prop saw yellow for making contact with the head of opposite number Tyler Dupree, who stayed down long enough for the video referee to review the incident.

Dupree remained on the field despite a lengthy delay and Wigan went on to score two tries against 12 men for the second time in the game.

Joe Burgess was sin-binned in the first half for a professional foul.

"The first one was fine but I'd need to have a look at the second one," said Peters following a 24-20 defeat that leaves the Warriors in pole position to claim top spot.

"If he (Dupree) is injured that’s fair enough but if he had not stayed down in the tackle, it would have been play on because it doesn’t look like an illegal tackle.

"If you're injured, you're injured. Stay down and come off if you need to. I'll never coach my players to stay down."

Rovers were the better team in the first half and held a 20-8 lead heading into the final quarter.

Jai Whitbread is sin-binned after a lengthy delay. (Photo: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)placeholder image
Jai Whitbread is sin-binned after a lengthy delay. (Photo: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)

But Wigan took advantage of the yellow cards to leave the Robins playing catch-up in their bid for a first major trophy since 1985.

"Naturally the players are disappointed and rightly so because they put a lot of effort into that game," said Peters.

"We got in front and probably should have closed the game out but we were down to 12 men twice and that hurt us.

"We went more than toe to toe with them. They'll be looking over their shoulder, that's for sure.

Joe Burgess, left, and Peta Hiku celebrate Hull KR's third try. (Photo: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)placeholder image
Joe Burgess, left, and Peta Hiku celebrate Hull KR's third try. (Photo: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)

"We were in a really strong position in that game. We're looking forward to hopefully playing them again down the track.

"When it was 13 v 13, I thought the players played extremely well. We didn't handle being down to 12, that's for sure.

"The players weren't happy with the result but there's so much to take out of that game."

The defeat leaves Rovers two points adrift of Wigan with just two rounds remaining.

They could, however, secure a top-two place and a home semi-final with a win at Leigh Leopards in their penultimate game.

"We're playing Leigh next week who are playing extremely well," said Peters.

"That's our next focus but we're in the finals and would like to have another opportunity to play teams like Wigan again."

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