Sat 18th Feb: SL: Hull Kingston Rovers v Wigan Warriors KO 13:00 (C4)

[John Drake]

Discuss Hull Kingston Rovers v Wigan Warriors here.

[Davo5]

Wigan by 4 

[Wakey Til I Die]

Wigan by 24

[Father Ted]

Almost a full house should give Rovers a lift but Wigan will have too much pace.

Wigan by 14. 

[Harry Stottle]

Shock of the round HKR win in a tight un.

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Wigan by 12.

[WN83]

I think HKR might catch us a bit cold, especially with the big crowd on and the new coach boost you tend to get.

 

HKR by 8

[Cw25]

Hull KR 10-26 Wigan

[daz39]

Wigan by 2 or 3 scores, Rovers fans to start booing on the 7th minute and abusing the ref by 18.

[Padge]

Wigan notorious slow starters, KR bolstered by a big crowd.

Wigan by 90.

Or 

Hull KR to catch Wigan on their slow start by 12.

This is the classic a team expected to be in the mix at the end of the season and a team wanting eraly points to get away from the bottom.

KR will go for a marker start and Wigan will go for we need to work on our processes for later.

Wigan won't get over KR's early doors enthusiasm and the latter will produce the required 'shock' headlines.

 

[DavidM]

Hull KR Rovers by 6

[DimmestStar]

The bookies have Wigan finishing 2nd and Rovers finishing 11th so on that basis it should be easy enough for Wigan.

Wigan of course are formidable but Rovers have increased their salary spend by £350k and are at maximum cap for the first time since Justin Morgan. So it would be very disappointing if that extra spend far from seeing Rovers improve actually saw them drop down the table from 8th to 11th as the bookies are predicting.

I think Rovers are going to do significantly better than that. The additions of Jessie Sue, Rhys Kennedy and James Batchelor really look to have added quality and depth to the pack and the right hand edge has been significantly strengthened with the excellent Tom Opacic. We've also got key players like Coote and Abdull who missed the majority of last season with injury but are now fully fit with a full pre-season behind them.

Willie Peters will be the first Hull KR coach for many years to have a first choice 17 available not just for the first game but for any game.  That's a good start. I've been so impressed with Willie Peters but the hard bit of winning games is about to start.

Wigan are a great team with x-factor players and scintillating pace and I won't be foolish enough to back against them but they are not going to find it easy at Craven Park on Saturday IMO.

[Jughead]

8 minutes ago, DimmestStar said:

The bookies have Wigan finishing 2nd and Rovers finishing 11th so on that basis it should be easy enough for Wigan.

 

When did Leigh drop the Lopards tag and take Rovers? Have I missed Degsy declaring his love for his favourite fictional public house? Was the leopard print really an ode to Bet Lynch and is the home shirt now a picture of Jack Duckworth and his celloptaped specs?

Not one bookie I’ve looked at has Hull KR as 11th. 

[DimmestStar]

Just double checked and after Rovers beat a very strong Leeds team 26-4 in the final pre-season game they are now predicted to be 10th. Prior to that they were 11th.

[Old Frightful]

5 hours ago, DimmestStar said:

Just double checked and after Rovers beat a very strong Leeds team 26-4 in the final pre-season game they are now predicted to be 10th. Prior to that they were 11th.

Final score from the Halliwell Jones :

Warrington 42 Leeds 10.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

14 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

Final score from the Halliwell Jones :

Warrington 42 Leeds 10.

Yeah no surprise to anyone who saw Leeds play Rovers. Work to do there, and no marker for Rovers quality I think

Wigan obviously favourites on paper, but Rovers at home and first game means we could have a shot. 

 

[The Mighty Trin]

25 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Yeah no surprise to anyone who saw Leeds play Rovers. Work to do there, and no marker for Rovers quality I think

Wigan obviously favourites on paper, but Rovers at home and first game means we could have a shot. 

 

Good luck to Rovers, think it will be a cracking game. Surprised so many on here are tipping Wigan but Craven Park very hard place to go. 

[Futtocks]

I agree with the earlier poster about Wigan often being slow starters. But I'm really not sure about the 2023 KR side's strength either.

Let's hope it's as good to watch as Channel 4's other match today!

[EagleEyePie]

Wigan haven't exactly had the best of records against Rovers in recent years. They've been a very difficult side for us to face. Obviously we won this fixture last year but we had a point to prove with a new head coach and coming off the back of a poor season. It's a bit different this year and it's now Hull KR with a new head coach looking to put a marker down and also facing his former club.

I'm genuinely leaning a little bit more towards Hull KR for this one. I still have some doubts about our pack but we've also got some newcomers with a point to prove and some youngsters who will hopefully be stronger this year. I'm looking forward to it.

[Futtocks]

Booze and snacks delivered, 10 minutes before the broadcast started. All set!

[Chrispmartha]

Fancy KR in this one and Ill be cheering them on

[Old Frightful]

Just now, Chrispmartha said:

Fancy KR in this one and Ill be cheering them on

I don't and I certainly won't.

[gingerjon]

I love the way that Adam Hills presents rugby league like a kid excited to show off this cool new band he's heard of that he wants everyone else to hear.

[Chrispmartha]

1 minute ago, Old Frightful said:

I don't and I certainly won't.

Theres a shock

[StandOffHalf]

I like Adam Hills but he certainly seems to go in for the irreverent puns.

Willie Peters is about to ''pop his cherry against the Cherry and Whites'' apparently.

Bit close to the bone for pre-watershed presentation, possibly.

Loving the C4 presentaion and vibe though. Makes it seem sexy and fun, compared to the often drab fare on Sky nowadays.