ENGLAND hooker Jez Litten admits he loved linking up with big signing Tevita Pangai Jnr for the first time in Hull KR colours.
The powerhouse prop enjoyed a fine debut as he came off the bench in Friday’s 38-6 win against York Knights.
The ex-Brisbane Broncos and Tonga star produced plenty of his trademark offloads, with hooker Litten twice latching onto them and surging up the middle of the field.
Fullback Jack Broadbent also benefited from the giant forward’s supply line as he made his mark, having bided his time since joining on a short-term deal last month.
Litten conceded: “It was great. It was good to see.
“He’s come in and worked really hard. On and off the pitch he’s been really good. It was special to see him have a game like that.
“And I’m pleased to have him in the team. Hopefully we can build some good combinations.
“He’s done it on the biggest stage and obviously I’ve watched him on TV and played against him a couple of times.
“He’s a big body and it’s good that he’s come here: he’s motivated and worked really hard.
“To put in a performance like that on his debut was brilliant.”
Litten suffered a knock to his leg in the second half and, after initially carrying on, he eventually came off and headed straight down the tunnel.
Asked if he was alright afterwards, he insisted: “Yes.
“It is just a bit frustrating But we’ll see how it is and how it recovers.”
Champions Rovers hit back after suffering back-to-back defeats – losing their grip on the Challenge Cup in the final against Wigan Warriors and then falling 26-24 at Wakefield Trinity after that Wembley heartache.
Victory moved them up to third and left them in a good position to push on to defend their title.
They host Leigh Leopards on Friday and Litten, 28, said: “We’ve got some big games coming up.
“We wanted to focus on our defence and we did that tonight.
“There was one try off a kick which wasn’t ideal, but we defended our line well. We didn’t complete well but we’ve spoken about how defence was our main focus and we did that.”