Sheens bemoans second-half effort as injuries stack up

Tim Sheens admitted his side’s second-half performance wasn’t good enough as Hull KR ended up on the receiving end of a heavy defeat to Wakefield.

The Robins were just 18-12 behind at half-time but conceded 36 second-half points as they lost 54-18.

The defeat leaves the Robins joint bottom of Super League and four points behind the top eight.

Sheens’ side were unfortunate to be behind at the break, but he admitted he couldn’t excuse their second-half display.

“You can’t play against physically strong teams like Wakefield without having the ball,” he said.

“In the second half we barely had possession the first 20 minutes and that is where the damage was done.

“In the first 12 sets of the second half, I think we had the ball for only one of them. I defy any team in the competition to do a good job defensively in those circumstances and in those conditions, but in saying that we’re still very disappointed in what we did.

“We gave away far too many penalties, especially in the second half and the game went away from us very quickly.

“The first half was more evenly contested and probably should have been level at half-time. Liam Salter’s first try was ruled out but it was definitely a try. He got the ball down in the corner but the call went against us. It’s just one of those things, that’s footy.”

Meanwhile, Sheens reported a fresh batch of injuries following the game.

“We lost Maurice Blair to his back again, Chris Clarkson to a hip flexor injury and Danny McGuire played most of the match with a leg problem. We’re doing it tough at the moment but we have to keep working hard and battling hard.”

A full report is in the new League Express.