WILLIE PETERS was delighted by Hull KR’s performance in adversity after thrashing Salford.
The Robins ran out emphatic 42-0 winners despite missing halfback pair Mikey Lewis (ankle) and Tyrone May (hamstring) while they lost two more key men – Niall Evalds (head) and Rhyse Martin (hip) – early in the game.
“We had adversity before the game in terms of our first-choice halves. For any team that will cause a little bit of chaos,” said Peters.
“We had a plan and the players executed that extremely well. Some guys stood up.”
Richardson replaced Lewis and Peters said: “I thought he did a very good job. He simplified his role and executed that extremely well. His kicking game was on.”
May, who was named in the 21-man squad, should return for next Friday’s trip to Hull KR “all being well” and Lewis could also make a quick return.
“Mikey has come on extremely well in his recovery,” said Peters.
“Initially we were worried because of the pain and the swelling that he had but that’s starting to come down.
“We’re trying to build him to hopefully get it right for next week. I think he’ll have every chance.”
But the club will need to assess both Martin – “he felt a pop, something in his hip flexor when he kicked a goal” – and skipper Elliot Minchella, who came off late with a hamstring issue.
Meanwhile, Salford coach Paul Rowley offered a scathing assessment of his team’s performance.
“The foundation for any game has to start with your defence and I thought we were very fragile in defence, and I’m putting that mildly,” said Rowley.
“That reflects in your offence and there were a lot of errors there.
“Our appetite and commitment to defend was a million miles off where it needs to be at any level. It wasn’t even Championship standard, it was terrible.
“We are very much in the trenches in this early part of the season. To get out of the trenches we need to stick together.
“A lot of people are looking for answers on the pitch but there’s only one place everyone, including myself, needs to look and that’s at ourselves. We’ll do that.”
