Hull KR lost a home game for the first time since Round Four as out-of-form Catalans Dragons defeated the Robins 15-14 in golden point.
It was the second game of the day to go to golden point with bottom side London Broncos taking Leeds Rhinos past the 80 minutes, only for Brodie Croft to slot a drop goal to break the Broncos’ hearts.
Only two weeks ago before the international break, Hull KR had seen a golden point win for themselves against Castleford Tigers but this time the Robins were on the wrong side of the result as Jez Litten couldn’t cement hero status again as he missed two chances to win it.
Actually, Hull KR lost the game in the first half due to their extremely sluggish start, which saw them behind 14-0 at the interval. However, they rallied to take the game past the 80-minute mark for Steve McNamara’s team.
Since then, Hull KR’s head coach Willie Peters has spoken to BBC Humberside to draw attention to another problem that might help to explain why the team got off to such a sluggish start. The loss kept the team from finishing second in the Super League; instead, it dropped them to a point-sharing position with Warrington Wolves and St Helens.
That reason has been cited as ruck speed with the Australian suggesting that it was incredibly slow, something that former Leeds Rhinos boss Rohan Smith was often a critic of.
The ruck’s speed has been discussed less and less in recent weeks as players and officials get into the swing of the season because it always picks up speed. But, yesterday saw it return to its previous form, and Peters has stated that this was one of the main reasons his team struggled to establish a rhythm early on.
He said to BBC Humberside in response to the notion that Catalans were able to dominate a sluggish Hull KR in the first half: “Yeah, I mean, I could go into the ruck tonight, but I’m not going to.” Come on, the ruck was so slow tonight that it was awful, even when we lost on the scoreboard.
HULL KRIn response to Hull KR’s golden point loss, Willie Peters said, “The ruck was terrible.” Sam Cooke7 July 2024
Hull kR
The Robins were defeated 15–14 in golden point by the out-of-form Catalans Dragons, causing Hull KR to lose their first home game since Round Four.
The game of the day ended in a golden point as Leeds Rhinos pulled ahead of the bottom-seeded London Broncos past the 80-minute mark, only for Brodie Croft to score a drop goal to crush the Broncos’ hearts.
Before the international break, just two weeks prior, Hull KR had defeated Castleford Tigers by a golden point margin; but, this time, the Robins were not on the winning side, as Jez Litten was unable to repeat as hero.
The club’s next game is today’s derby between Hull FC and Salford, which will take place at the MKM Stadium, the site of Hull KR’s dominant 22-0 victory that opened the 2024 Super League season.
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