'What level of care do you have?': Willie Peters' message to Hull KR ahead of Leigh Leopards rematch

The Robins host the Leopards just 13 days on from their heartbreaking golden-point loss as they aim to get their Super League season back on track following defeats either side of the final.

Rovers had more than an eye on Wembley when they visited Wigan Warriors and were still coming to terms with missing out on a first Challenge Cup triumph since 1980 in last week's game at St Helens.

But Peters has stressed there can be no excuses on their return to Craven Park against the team that denied his side a slice of history.

"True motivation and true discipline come from within," he said.

"I want to hand this over to the players in a sense. Don't get me wrong, we've got our internal motivations to get the players up but if it's not hurting you inside a little bit, what level of care do you have?

"Sure all our players care but it's really the level of care that takes over when you really want to right some wrongs.

"For the 17 we put out this week, it's about going out and being a hard team to play against but there's no doubt we're playing against a team that beat us two weeks ago in the cup.

"It's about how much we want to turn that into a positive because it no doubt still needs to burn for some players.

"Going through cup final losses can make a group closer. I'd like to think we're going to show that over the next five weeks, starting this week."

The Robins dropped out of the play-off positions after their points difference took a hit with a weakened side against Wigan and face a fight to get back into the top six with only five rounds remaining.

Regardless of the opposition and wider context, Peters demands the same standards from his players.

"What we're striving for as a club is that it doesn't matter whether you're playing a cup final or Featherstone at the start of the year when I wasn't happy with that trial game, we've got to be consistent no matter what," he added.

"I understand you're going to get dips and players will get tired at times but it shouldn't be any different when you pull a KR jersey on to go out and play in a cup final, the champions the week after and then coming back home to play Leigh.

"I said before the cup that we're going to learn a lot about ourselves in this period. This is the period I meant most of all because you're playing against Leigh who you played against two weeks ago in the cup.

"Let's see what's in us. Let's see how much that hurts. Let's see how much it's burning certain people in the team.

"It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks."

Peters fielded a strong side at St Helens last Friday but the Robins were understandably flat as they grappled with a Wembley hangover.

After giving his players three days to clear their heads, Peters is already seeing the benefits.

"We were initially going to have the weekend off but we made a decision to give them the extra day off and today was our first day back in," he said during Tuesday's press conference.

"We just want to look forward now. We obviously went through the cup which was a great experience and the effort was there at St Helens.

"The scoreline sometimes doesn't reflect the effort put in. There was a 15-minute period that wasn't anywhere near where we needed to be and they scored three tries.

"The best thing to do was to put that behind us, put the cup behind us and freshen the guys up to get them ready and excited to play this week.

"They bounced into training and we're looking forward to the next five weeks and what's ahead of us.

"When we're full of energy and buzzing about coming into training, that certainly reflects in our performances."

Despite the recent setbacks in Super League, Hull KR's destiny remains in their own hands.

Peters has seen enough from his players to convince him that they have one last push in them at the end of a gruelling season.

"Absolutely," said Peters, who has a full squad at his disposal barring long-term absentees Jordan Abdull, Jesse Sue and Sam Wood.

"It's the business end of the year and that was the whole purpose of freshening the guys up, getting them away from the game and enjoying some family time.

"They've given me no reason today not to think there is another push in them."