Hull Kingston Rovers coach James Webster has stressed that with the quality of players they possess in their ranks, Saturday’s opponents Leigh have all the capabilities and ability of a Super League team.
The Robins and the Centurions lock horns in a huge Saturday afternoon showdown live on Sky Sports, with victory for Leigh moving them a step closer to what would be a remarkable promotion to Super League.
And Webster told League Express that with Championship teams now able to spend the same as their Super League counterparts, he believes Leigh have assembled a top-tier squad irrespective of the league they play in.
Let’s be honest about it, they are a Super League club,” he said.
“Just because they play in a different competition every week, it’s totally different to what it has been since the salary cap was adjusted in their competition.
“It’s like 20 years ago. We frequently had teams from the lower leagues spending more than the top-tier sides.
“They’ve got two fully-fledged New Zealand internationals, a number of Australian ones and some England internationals in there too.
“I can’t remember a Championship team being like this before.”
Webster also addressed speculation linking winger Ken Sio with a return to Australia next year.
He said: “I think that would go past my desk, but you can understand why people all over the world would be interested.
“However, as far as I know he’s happy here and he’s under contract for next season.”
