Hull KR v Leigh Leopards: Willie Peters avoids Wembley talk ahead of Challenge Cup rematch

The quarter-final tie is a repeat of last year's decider when the Leopards denied Rovers a first major trophy since 1985 in golden point.

Peters' men have bounced back impressively from that crushing Wembley defeat to cement their status as trophy contenders.

After getting to within 80 minutes of the Super League Grand Final at the end of 2023, the Robins have made a promising start to this season.

KR sit fourth in Super League and have the opportunity to reach the semi-finals of the cup for the third year running this weekend.

It is little wonder, then, that Peters is keen to focus on the here and now rather than rake up the past.

"We've not mentioned the final at all this week," he said.

"Naturally, I get that the headlines will be around last year but why would I want to bring negative emotion up? If we're going to talk about last year, let's talk about the semi-final (against Wigan Warriors) and the games where we fixed things up.

"If we talk about Wembley, you're bringing up negative emotion and that's not the way we want to approach this.

"It's a new year and we've started quite well. We've got a new challenge on Saturday."

Rovers have got the better of the Leopards twice since their Wembley meeting in August, hammering Adrian Lam's side 52-10 a fortnight later before knocking their rivals out of the play-offs.

Peters views those wins as proof that his team are quick learners.

"We learnt some technical stuff that I won't go into," he said.

"We definitely fixed those things up. We had a really good win two weeks after and then played them in the play-offs.

"We just fell short in the final and we know that. What we didn't do was give up.

"There are no regrets from this group around the performance and effort we put in. Naturally, there were a couple of things in the game that we'd take back but we certainly fixed those up when we played them two weeks after."

The Robins head into the quarter-final clash on the back of four straight wins, in contrast to Leigh who have only one Super League victory to go with their success against Featherstone Rovers in the previous round.

The Leopards largely managed to avoid injuries to key men last year but that has not been the case at the start of this season, with Edwin Ipape, John Asiata and Tom Briscoe all unavailable this weekend.

Front-row pair Tom Amone and Robbie Mulhern, meanwhile, must prove their fitness ahead of the trip to Craven Park.

Despite their early struggles, there is no chance of Rovers underestimating Leigh after five meetings between the sides in 2023.

"It's well documented that they've had a lot of injuries to key players but they still fight hard," said Peters.

"They might have been well beaten on the scoreboard last week but if you break it down, Wigan won the key moments.

"We certainly respect Leigh. You don't go from being a good team to a bad or an average one in six to eight months.

"There's a really good rivalry now between the two clubs. That's been built on the players and what they've delivered in every match last year.

"There's a respect from both clubs on what we've done. It's a healthy rivalry."