Wigan Warriors v Hull KR – Winning streak sought by inconsistent Robins

THE ODD win is keeping Hull Kingston Rovers off the foot of Super League, but half-back Josh Drinkwater knows they need to put a run together to pull clear of danger.
CONFIDENT: Hull KR's Josh Drinkwater. Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comCONFIDENT: Hull KR's Josh Drinkwater. Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
CONFIDENT: Hull KR's Josh Drinkwater. Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

Rovers have followed a loss with a win throughout Tony Smith’s two months as coach and, following last week’s extra-time success against Castleford Tigers, breaking that sequence away to Wigan Warriors this evening would be a big step forward.

“We haven’t put back-to-back wins together this season,” Drinkwater pointed out.

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“We know Wigan is going to be tough, it’s a short turnaround and they’ve hit some form.

INFLUENTIAL: Hull KR head coach Tony Smith.
 Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeINFLUENTIAL: Hull KR head coach Tony Smith.
 Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
INFLUENTIAL: Hull KR head coach Tony Smith. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

“They are playing some good footy and I think they are dark horses to win the comp’.

“It is going to take a massive effort and a big challenge, but if you can get two or three wins on the trot you’ll probably be safe.

“Hopefully, we can get a few more points away from last place.”

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Rovers have played Wigan twice already under Smith, losing by one point at home in his first game before a 52-10 drubbing at DW Stadium last month.

They have been competitive in all their other fixtures and will travel in high spirits after their golden-point victory six days ago.

Drinkwater said: “We’ve lost a few close games this year so for the tide to turn and get that win, hopefully it has changed our fortunes in the season.

“It was a massive two points in the context of the season and a really good effort on our part. We’ve been working hard for two months now and it felt like a reward for that.”

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With five rounds remaining, the Robins are second from bottom in the table, but have opened up a two-point gap on London Broncos, who visit Castleford tomorrow.

“We’ve now scraped a few other teams into it,” added Drinkwater.

“But for us it is all about playing well each week now.

“The club has been really good about getting players in because we have been a bit short in terms of depth.

“There’s still a lot of footy to be played and there’s going to be some more twists and turns before the end of the season so we can’t afford to get too far ahead of ourselves.”