Wigan Warriors v Hull KR: Willie Peters backs Robins to match formidable hosts on big stage

The five-time Super League champions have reached the Grand Final on 11 occasions in all, a record only bettered by St Helens.

Wigan know their way to Old Trafford as a club and have been the best team in the competition this season.

Hull KR have made significant strides in recent times but have only ever been in this position once before – in 2021 when they lost at Catalans Dragons with a heavily depleted side.

While it cannot be argued that Rovers deserve to be in the semi-finals after finishing fourth and seeing off Challenge Cup winners Leigh Leopards in the opening round of the play-offs, they are heavy underdogs heading into the DW Stadium clash.

There are no feelings of apprehension, though, with Willie Peters relishing the chance to take on one of the sport's true heavyweights for a place in next week's Grand Final.

"I think it's exciting and a great opportunity," said the KR head coach, who spent a season with the Warriors as a player.

"It's no fluke that Wigan are in that top four. They won the League Leaders' Shield this year because of what they do year in, year out.

"St Helens are the same because they got their culture right many years ago. They'll always bring in the right people and right players.

"We want to be a top-four club year in, year out. We're a top-four team this year and deserve to be there.

"We've beaten every team in the competition bar Warrington who got us in two tight games. We're confident in our ability and now it's a matter of doing what has worked for us all year to put in a performance we're proud of."

KR have grown in belief since beating Wigan in golden point in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup.

Although they came up short in the Wembley showpiece in a similarly tense encounter, the Robins have shown they are a match for any side in Super League.

Peters' men won six games in a row to reach the semi-finals, while the Warriors can point to an eight-match winning run since losing to Rovers at Headingley.

Whereas the Robins are battle-hardened from last week's clash with Leigh, Wigan have had two weeks to prepare for the game after securing top spot in the final round of the regular season.

Peters insists he would prefer to be in KR's shoes.

"When you've won six on the bounce, you want to keep that going," he said.

"The players are fresh and buzzing on game day. We're still training with intensity but are keeping the sessions nice and short.

"We wanted to keep the momentum going, which is really important at this time of the year. Having a week off for us wouldn't have been ideal."

Wigan found themselves in a similar position last year and fell flat in a surprise 20-8 home loss to Leeds Rhinos.

Rovers could put doubts in the minds of the home side early but Peters has prepared his team for the best of the Warriors on Saturday afternoon.

"Wigan will want to start fast as well," he said.

"You need to put fatigue in Wigan. If it's a stop-start game and they play the way they want to play, they've got some players that can hurt you.

"The way we approach it won't be different based on what happened to them last year. They're a quality side.

"They've got their learnings from the semi-final they played against us and are undefeated since then. We're playing against a very, very good team that are well coached.

"We've got a lot of respect for them but we want to get to that Grand Final so we need to start fast and put pressure on them for 80 minutes."

Leeds were backed by a huge away following in last year's semi-final and Rovers are set to enjoy the same level of support.

The Craven Park crowd had a big say in the eliminator against Leigh and Peters has backed the Robins supporters to turn the DW Stadium into a home away from home.

"There's no doubt Wigan will have a home crowd there but when you're hearing we're going to have 4,500 KR fans, it's going to be pretty loud," he said.

"Although we're not playing at Craven Park, we're going to have a pretty good following.

"We're grateful. They've followed us all year and will follow us again this week.

"It was a massive plus playing at home last week but I don't see it as a real disadvantage for us this week."