London Broncos 22 Hull KR 42: Brown urged to stay grounded after hat-trick

Hull KR coach Craig Sandercock insisted Alex Brown still had plenty to learn after watching the winger put the Broncos to the sword with an impressive display in London.
Alex BrownAlex Brown
Alex Brown

Brown ran in a first-half hat-trick as part of an eight-try romp, earning the Robins their first away win of the Super League season.

But Rovers’ blossoming star still has areas he needs to develop, according to Sandercock. “Obviously you have to be happy with any player that scores three tries,” the coach said after his side’s 
42-22 triumph in the capital.

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“If Alex keeps doing that week in, week out it will be difficult to drop him.

“But there are still a lot of things he needs to learn, and we will sit down with him, watch the tapes and work on those things.

“Naturally, I am pleased with the result. There was a bit of a lack of concentration in the second half, but we corrected that.

“Back-to-back wins builds confidence, and we can work on this.”

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The game was virtually all over bar the shouting at the interval after Hull KR raced into a 30-6 lead.

Kris Welham got things started for the visitors early on, before Brown added his first score shortly afterwards.

Craig Gower did hit back for the Broncos, but Welham, Brown and Greg Eden wiped that out with further tries for the Robins.

There was even time for Brown to run in a third before the half-time hooter.

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London did emerge with renewed vigour after the break and grabbed tries from Kieran Dixon and Chris Bailey to make it a contest.

But Hull KR gathered themselves and, after Michael Dobson booted a penalty, Liam Salter and Cory Patterson crossed for further tries.

Dan Sarginson did run in a late score for the hosts but it was scant consolation.

“We had an inability to build pressure in the first half,” Broncos coach Tony Rea said. “We made too many mistakes and that held us back. I thought we were in with a shout in the second half, but it was not to be.

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“We just need a home win – the players need it and the fans need it. We have to pull together and stay strong.”

London Broncos: Dorn, Colbon, Channing, Sarginson, Dixon, Witt, Gower, Cook, Randall, Bryant, Rodney, Bailey, Lee. Substitutes: Clubb, Fisher, Lovell, Kaufusi.

Hull KR: Eden, Brown, Salter, Welham, D. Hodgson, Burns, Dobson, Tuimavave, Carlile, Lovegrove, Paterson, Mika, Griffin. Substitutes: Paea, Horne, Cox, Walker.

Referee: J Child (Dewsbury).