Hull KR v Wigan: ‘We didn’t win anything last year’ as Ryan Hall targets silverware

The Robins kick-off at home to Wigan Warriors tonight with the Sewell Group Craven Park sure to be bouncing once more as matters get underway.

Having upset the odds last term to get within 80 minutes of a maiden Grand Final, there will be greater expectancy on the East Yorkshire club who finished bottom 12 months previously.

With the capture of three-time Super League-winning full-back Lachlan Coote, there is certainly grounds for optimism that they will improve again and, having beaten Wigan in their last three meetings, they will not be daunted this evening.

England winger Ryan Hall, who scored 15 Super League tries last year in his first season with KR, told The Yorkshire Post: “It’s a great first test for us. We fared OK against Wigan last year but we have been trying to stay away from using the term ‘last year’.

“Obviously we were all very positive towards last year and proud of ourselves in where we finished and how we finished.

“But at the end of the day we didn’t achieve anything. We didn’t win anything.

“Celebrating a better year than what Hull KR is used to is great but we shouldn’t get carried away with ourselves as we didn’t actually achieve anything.”

Rovers, of course, eventually came unstuck against Catalans Dragons in their first-ever Super League semi-final in Perpignan but they won an army of fans along the way for the manner in which they played.

Wigan, though, are looking to make their own improvements; they finished fourth under Adrian Lam last year and were dumped out of the play-offs at the first hurdle with a woeful 8-0 home defeat to Leeds Rhinos.

New boss Matt Peet, who has risen through the ranks at the club since initially joining as scholarship coach in 2008, has vowed to improve not only the attacking quality of the side but, more importantly, its culture.

Hall, 34, conceded: “This game will be a rest test against Wigan.

“They will probably admit themselves that they weren’t a proper Wigan side last year; we didn’t get what we usually expect from a Wigan side. They will be looking to rectify that quickly and as best they can.

“It’ll be a great first hit-out to see if we’re realistic. We think we have a great vision of ourselves and now we have to see if that is realistic.

“It’s a great chance to see where we are on Friday against an historic club like Wigan.”

Given Hall played 12 years with hometown Leeds, winning every honour in the game and scoring 232 tries in 327 games along the way, he certainly has that winning mentality that Rovers need.

It could be one of the reasons Tony Smith, who coached him at Headingley and with England, brought him in from Sydney Roosters last year.

“My experience covers a decent range of everything,” said Hall, whose work out of back field in 2021 was just as influential as his scoring.

“You can’t really say Tony brought me in for one reason rather than another.

“I’ve just tried to be as professional as I can and impart my wisdom where I can.

“It might be something I’ve picked up along the way and if I can cover quite a few areas with that – be it on field, specific moments of a game, or if it’s a more general view towards a season and how you do things – I’ll do my best in all those areas,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say he brought me in for one specific thing but I do know from history it does help winning something before to get that mentality in there.”

Hall explained: “Before the semi-final in Catalans, it became quite apparent to me some of the players sat in that dressing room had never even played in a semi-final before, never mind won a semi-final or gone on to a Grand Final and then won that.

“That was a new experience for some of those lads. They’ll be better for it this year.

“It is quite a young team that we have got so it was a great experience from that and hopefully they can learn from that rather than me saying ‘this is how you win a semi-final’.

“They have actually experienced a semi-final now. We didn’t perform very well on the night and that was ultimately why we lost.

“That is an experience in itself. I know it’s not a positive one but you don’t lose in rugby; you either win or you learn. So, hopefully, we’ve some learnings from that which we can take into this year.”