Robins reach agreement

Hull Kingston Rovers became the seventh club to agree pay cuts with their players last week.

Chief executive Mike Smith outlined the club’s financial position and put forward an improved offer to the players during a meeting at Craven Park last Tuesday morning.

The Robins came to a quick agreement with their squad over the cuts they’d put in place.

League Express can reveal the Robins players will take a 15% cut on the first £25,000 they would earn annually, and 20% on anything they earn above that.

The players have been very understanding from when the cuts were made,” said Smith.

“We’ve managed to make them a better offer that will go until the end of the season.

“I’d like to thank them all for their understanding and seeing the precarious position not only the club was in but the game as a whole was in.

“It’s been a pleasure to deal with them and it backs up what our fans have done. They’ve supported the club and been very patient.

“We’re hoping we can repay the faith they’ve got in the team and the team have got in them over the coming weeks.”

The news will come as a relief to the club, the supporters and Super League in general, with the Robins due to play in the competition’s return date on August 2nd.

Tony Smith’s side takes on Toronto in a crucial game at the bottom of the table and should go into the game with a near fully-fit squad. They returned to training today (Monday).

The next challenge for the Robins comes in the shape of retention, with several players off-contract at the end of the season.

Ryan Brierley, Ben Crooks, Will Dagger, Jamie Ellis, Matty Gee, Weller Hauraki, Daniel Murray, Matt Parcell, Nathaniel Peteru, Adam Quinlan and Kyle Trout are all in the closing months of their contracts.

Loanee Harvey Livett is heading to Salford and with the aforementioned players free to speak to other clubs, Rovers are in the process of trying to tie them up to new deals.

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