Lunt relief after his Hull KR comeback from injury

The former England international earned man-of-the-match as he came off the bench to inspire Rovers to a 30-10 victory at treble-winners Leeds Rhinos on Friday.

Lunt scored two tries and created another for Ben Cockayne as the East Yorkshire club picked up their first Super League away win outside of Hull in 18 months.

He had missed the opening five games of the season due to ankle surgery but then also injured his calf on his return at Huddersfield Giants which saw him sidelined for the next three matches, too.

Captain Terry Campese had made his own comeback in that 38-6 loss having missed nine months due to a knee reconstruction.

Yet he also suffered another injury in that match – going down to a hamstring problem – and, cruelly, strained it again on Friday lasting just 14 minutes of the Super League battle.

Lunt was his replacement so did he fear his own relapse, too, when going on?

He said: “We were having a laugh beforehand as obviously me and Campo came back together before.

“So, I said to him ‘if you get injured this week I’m not coming off with you like I did at Huddersfield!’

“I know how hard we’ve been working in rehab so I’m gutted for Campo seeing what happened.

“He’s a tough character, though, and he’ll be back sooner rather than later.

“For me, it’s been a long time coming. Obviously it was very frustrating with injuries and to come back against Huddersfield and then get injured again, there’s nothing worse.

“But I’ve come through the game unscathed and am looking forward to Catalans on Thursday now.

“The fans and club have been brilliant and not rushed me back one bit.

“The boys needed us (Lunt and Campese) as they’ve been doing it tough and we want to get out there and give them a hand so it’s great to be back.”

Lunt has now scored three tries in just two games this term, his first-half brace at Headingley added to a try in that game at Huddersfield.

“I love scoring tries, I won’t lie!” he said.

“It’s always nice. And I prefer scoring those little dive-overs like on Friday rather than running too far so I’m really pleased with how it went and I could enjoy the weekend.

“I thought our middles (props) were awesome. They really were.”

“They got us on the front foot and it makes my day a lot easier when they are getting the wins like that early doors.”

Lunt scored seven tries in 19 games after joining on loan from Huddersfield last season before signing a permanent four-year deal.

With the Cumbrian back in the fold, they will now look to add to their paltry two wins.

“We’ve been looking to play an 80 minute performance for a while now and I believe we did that at Leeds,” he added.

“Those two tries late on that Mitch (Allgood) and Mully (Robbie Mulhern) scored, over the last few weeks they are the tries that were going against us but we’re scoring them now.

“We managed the ball and played the game smartly. We’d been playing with heart and courage but dumb, too, and not conserving energy.

“But we turned it over on our terms this week and that’s why we scored.

“We just need to kick on now. Friday is done so we have to forget about it look and look forward to Catalans.

“That’s no easy task as they’re playing really well but at least we’ve got them at home.”

Meanwhile, the 28-year-old has backed Leeds to recover from their horrendous start.

The champions have lost seven of their opening nine games.

Lunt, who won the title with Rhinos when on a season-long loan there in 2012, said: “They are doing it tough but they are a champion set of lads.

“I said that when I left. There’s no better blokes in the game with what they have gone through and I’m sure Brian (McDermott) will get them sorted out.

“They are a bit like us; we’ve had injuries and they’ve had injuries… it’s been a very indifferent start to Super League as a whole.

“I reckon there’s too much class in there to write them off, though.”