HULL KR need to recover quickly from the disappointment of a heavy defeat in Perpignan if they are to keep their season on track.
That’s the view of coach Willie Peters, who has to guide the Robins through a series of tough fixtures ahead (Wigan twice, St Helens and Warrington) with a team that was battered and bruised at Stade Gilbert Brutus in a 36-6 defeat on Saturday night.
Peters told League Express: “That was definitely our worst performance of the season.
“We’ve got a disappointed dressing room. But we’re not going to kick stones, we’re playing against the champions next week so we have to pick ourselves up.
“It’s only one game in a long season and we won’t get too down about it. Naturally we’re disappointed. We want our best and worst to be not too far apart, but it was today.
“So our aim is to make sure we narrow that gap.
“We need to reflect on why we had that kind of performance. We’ve already spoken about it in the changing room and we want feedback from the players.”
Rovers, without the injured Mikey Lewis, were effectively beaten in the first half in Perpignan, 26-6 behind at the interval, leaving Peters scratching his head after a recent run of good form.
He will be hoping for good news on Lewis this week after he missed out on the trip to France with a hamstring injury as he prepares for the next four weeks, a period which could define this year’s campaign for Rovers.
“Mikey had a glute issue in the captain’s run before we came over, nothing too serious, but it was best that he didn’t play,” said Peters.
He reported no further injury issues from Saturday’s game, adding, “George King has only just come back from a hamstring, so we decided to limit his minutes. He was supposed to be back next week but we brought him back a week earlier.
“Deano (Hadley) is carrying a sternum injury so he toughed it out tonight as long as he could and I didn’t want to play him for 80 minutes. We’ve got a tough run ahead and he did what he could for us on the pitch today and he started to get tired so I brought him off.”
Peters will also be monitoring any disciplinary decisions this week after substitute forward Matty Storton was sin-binned in the second-half following a tackle on Tom Johnstone, which left the Catalans winger receiving treatment for a sore neck.
Peters added: “I didn’t have a good view of the incident. Matty spent ten minutes in the bin and I know it was in an awkward position, but I didn’t see too much.”
