Salford Red Devils 10 Hull KR 24: Robins prove squad depth to make another early statement

In the build-up to the trip to Salford Red Devils, Willie Peters stressed the importance of quickly moving on from the opening-round win over Wigan Warriors, as impressive as it was.

Rovers have perhaps been guilty in the past of thinking they had cracked it after knocking off one of the competition's heavyweights, only to fall flat the following week.

Peters has already made it clear he will not tolerate fluctuating performance levels as he aims to shake an inferiority complex he believes has followed the Robins around.

Belief has been a buzzword in the early part of the year and KR will take plenty from a gutsy win at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Rovers arrived without four of the players that contributed to the statement victory against Wigan, including Lachlan Coote and Ryan Hall.

Throw in a short turnaround against last year’s semi-finalists and it was a good test of Hull KR's 2023 credentials.

That they got the job done in the face of adversity will only strengthen the belief that they can end their long wait for silverware.

Jordan Abdull's kicking game was the difference in the end, while KR's fringe players stood tall to prove the depth at Peters' disposal.

Sam Wood scored a brace and Frankie Halton marked his first appearance of the Super League campaign with a try.

Sam Luckley, meanwhile, was a powerful presence in the middle on his return to his former club.

Two rounds in, the Robins have ticked a lot of boxes, although Peters will be concerned by the way his team started at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The Red Devils dictated the tempo in the opening exchanges, which under Paul Rowley means attacking at breakneck speed with a variety to their play that can leave the opposition chasing shadows.

George King produced a try-saving effort to deny Kallum Watkins but that only delayed the inevitable.

Former Hull KR winger Ken Sio was the man to break the deadlock 10 minutes in after a simple shift to the right by the dominant Red Devils.

Aside from a half chance for Elliot Minchella at the end of KR's first set, it was all Salford.

The Red Devils were guilty of overplaying as the first half went on and their mistakes offered encouragement to Rovers.

After defending on the back foot for so long, the Robins got a good look at the Salford line as half-time approached – without success.

KR thought they were back in it when Wood touched down from Abdull's cross-field kick, only for the video referee to spot a knock-on by Shaun Kenny-Dowall in the build-up.

The Red Devils continued to give the Robins a leg-up with unforced errors but the away side went into the interval frustrated after seeing Kane Linnett lose the ball reaching for the line.

Half-time gave Peters the opportunity to get his message across to his team – and it landed emphatically.

With the help of Abdull's left boot, Rovers took a firm grip on the contest.

KR's first try owed to a mistake by Joe Burgess from a testing Abdull cross-field kick, Ethan Ryan on hand to touch down in a tight space.

Abdull continued to pepper the Red Devils close to the line and got more joy just minutes later.

After forcing a drop-out with a neat grubber into the in-goal area, the half-back sent through a deft kick which was collected and finished by Halton.

Rovers were 12-4 up when Will Dagger added a second goal but an error from the restart by James Batchelor offered Salford a lifeline.

The Red Devils took full advantage in the next set when Deon Cross came back on the angle to touch down.

Just when Salford thought they were right back in it, another mistake killed their hopes stone dead.

Sam Stone knocked on from the restart and, like Batchelor, he was punished as Rovers shifted the ball out to the left where Wood finished.

Dagger's third conversion gave the Robins breathing space at 18-10 and although they suffered the odd scare – most notably when Sio had a try ruled out for offside – they managed the game superbly led by Abdull.

Rovers made sure of the win eight minutes from time through Wood after Ryan Brierley failed to deal with an Abdull steepler.

All that was left to do was for Dagger to add another nerveless touchline conversion to underline the quality available to Peters beyond the first 17.

Salford Red Devils: Brierley, Sio, Cross, Lafai, Burgess, Croft, Sneyd, Ormondroyd, Ackers, Dupree, Watkins, Stone, Partington. Substitutes: Gerrard, Vuniyayawa, Atkin, Wright.

Hull KR: Dagger, Ryan, Opacic, Kenny-Dowall, Wood, Lewis, Abdull, Sue, Parcell, King, Batchelor, Linnett, Minchella. Substitutes: Halton, Litten, Hadley, Luckley.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths.