JAI WHITBREAD gave all the credit to Jez Litten after his unlikely try double in Hull KR’s emphatic home win over Salford last Thursday night.
The Robins scored seven tries in a 42-0 whitewash with two coming from prop Whitbread in the space of nine second-half minutes.
It was the Aussie’s first brace in the professional game and takes him to ten career tries in 107 appearances.
Asked when he’d last scored two tries, Whitbread said: “I think maybe when I was about twelve!
“For the first one, Jez put a deception, a little play that we planned through the week which came off.
“The next one I was just pushing with Jez; he creates a lot. I’m just off his hip and away I went.
“I just had to catch the ball, but they’re nice to come by.”
He added of England hooker Litten, who starred off the bench with those two assists plus a try of his own: “He’s electric, he’s unreal.
“He brings energy for a little fella. You can’t knock him in defence, he’s throwing his body about and shooting out of the line. It’s great to play with players like Jez.”
Coach Willie Peters also praised Litten for the impact he is making as an interchange, with new signing Michael McIlorum the starting hooker in all of their games so far.
“Jez is certainly growing as a player, and he’s approaching his peak now,” he said of the 26-year-old.
“The games are certainly lifting when he comes on. Micky did a good job at the start with our starting pack, then when he comes on Jez adds something else to us.”
Hull KR have won their first three Super League games of the season as they bid to emulate last season’s run to the Grand Final.
They thrashed Salford despite missing halfbacks Mikey Lewis and Tyrone May – who could both come back into contention for Friday’s trip to St Helens – and losing Niall Evalds to a head injury after two minutes.
“I think we showed how tight we are as a group, to come away with a win like that,” said Whitbread.
“We lost Niall early and had a reshuffle. A few boys had to play big minutes but we all just dug in and it was a good performance.
“The (previous) two weeks we’ve grinded a win. We’ve had a few good performances but we can’t get ahead of ourselves.”