HAVING climbed the steps as a winner last year, Hull KR captain Elliot Minchella this year had to face the media as a runner up.
Their 40-10 defeat to Wigan Warriors wasn’t the performance anyone connected with Hull KR would have wanted or expected but the captain was gracious in defeat.
“It is a contrast of emotions from 12 months ago but there are no excuses, the best team won on the day and it doesn’t feel good,” he said.
“The conversations in the dressing room were very brief. They (the players) know we have to take responsibility as the guys went out there and didn’t perform. We need to look in the mirror to find out why this happened and be better from it.”
The Challenge Cup has gone but the club were League Leaders and Grand Final winners in 2025, so for Minchella and his teammates there is still a lot to play for this season. Discipline is usually Rovers’ forte, but in this game it let them down and it ultimately cost them.
“Penalties you give away against a quality side, especially coming out of yardage; we did that far too often today,” he said.
“A good team like that make you pay and that is exactly what they did. I’m not sure why the discipline was the way it was. It could be a mix of things and it is down to individuals, but as players we have to take the responsibility.
“We have to learn not to give the referee an opportunity to award penalties. We will take all of this as motivation in moving forward with the rest of the season.
“It is a long time until the business end of the season, so we have a long time to work on things and that’s what we do as players. When you come together you win things and we have the experience of doing that together. We’ve lost today but we will stick together.”