Betfred Super League: Minchella warns Hull KR to ignore distractions in treble bid

Hull KR’s bid for a history-making treble comes to its culmination on Saturday night in the Betfred Super League Grand Final against the Wigan Warriors, and captain Elliot Minchella wants his team to learn from the excitement of making the 2024 showpiece.

Rovers were defeated 9-2 by the Warriors at the same stage last season. But after winning the Betfred Challenge Cup and League Leaders’ Shield, he has explained that it will take a steely focus that was missing 12 months ago if he is to be lifting the iconic Super League trophy at Old Trafford.

“When you come to a big event like this, you can almost get caught up in that and stop thinking about the actual game,” the 28-year-old tells The Last Tackle, The Sportsman Rugby League’s weekly YouTube show.

“We’re here to play a game of rugby league and it doesn’t matter how many people are here. You could be playing in front of 200 people or 70,000, the game is still the same.

“So we will probably not look to enjoy it as much, and be narrow-minded about the game and what that looks like for us as individuals. Then when you bring that all together as a collective that can be powerful.”

Minchella’s head coach Willie Peters has been vocal about the fact his team were too distracted by the occasion on Grand Final day last year. And he knows that his team will have to be 100% on their game if they are to achieve a treble which would mark this down as the Robins’ greatest-ever season.

“We’ve earned the right to be here, we’ve been the most consistent team over the course of the regular rounds, but it means nothing,” Peters explains to The Sportsman.

“We’re certainly proud of what we’ve achieved, but only so far.

“We want to make sure that we go out this weekend and finish the job because we’re in a position that not many teams get to be in, trying to get a treble in the one year. Who knows when that opportunity will happen again, so we just need to make the most of that.

“It would mean a lot. To the city, but also to our owner Neil Hudgell, our board who invest a lot of money, and our fans who have been through so much in terms of heartache, and just fighting and scrapping, and doing it tough to stay in the competition.

“Anything that you want doesn’t come easy, and it’s not going to come easy on Saturday night. But if we can do it, it will be an unbelievable feeling because the feeling that we had at Wembley was great, but I’m sure this will exceed that.”

And the former voice of rugby league, Eddie Hemmings, says he also expects Saints to have enough to cause a shock on Saturday as a result of Rovers’ dip in form.

“They were fortunate, I think, to win at Wembley this year against Warrington,” ex-Sky Sports commentator Hemmings reasoned. “They were not fortunate to win the League Leaders’ Shield because that shows just how consistent they have been.

“But they have the Saints turning up on the back of the ‘Wide to Wright’ try. I just hope that match for St Helens hasn’t taken the gas out of them.”

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Five of the last seven Grand Finals have been won by teams scoring 12 points or fewer. And after Rovers’ 10-6 win at The Brick when these sides last met in August, there is a fear for some neutrals that the two sides could cancel each other out.

“I think the weather has probably contributed to that. The last few years it has been raining, and it hailed last year before the game,” Peters explains.

“I believe it’s going to be a dry track this year, so we want to play and I’m sure Wigan want to play as well. It’s not as if you’ve got a style all season and then you want to go into your shell for the Grand Final.

“You want that style to come out, so I think the weather has something to do with how you want to play. You want players expressing themselves, we’re in the entertainment business and there’s going to be 70,000 people here.”

For Wigan boss Matt Peet, this is an opportunity to record a third successive Super League title after last year’s victory over the Robins and a 10-2 win against Catalans Dragons 12 months prior.

And he says the familiarity with the occasion brings with it a sense of comfort.

“Each time you come, you feel a bit more natural with it,” he tells The Last Tackle. “I think we are ready, we’re building in form. We weren’t particularly pleased with last week’s performance against Leigh, but we got the job done and maybe it does us good that there’s a lot to learn. We certainly know we need to do better.

“There’s always a pressure, and it’s just the introduction to that question that’s different. Last year there was a pressure to complete the clean sweep, there was a point when we hadn’t won one for a while. So in a big game like this there’s always a narrative, there’s always a reason to win. Ultimately, it will come down to the players playing really well.”

Peet adds that there’s a need to play up the big date if anything as his side go for what is being dubbed a ‘Three-Peet’.

“We do try to make it special for the players and the family. You want them to get addicted to getting to these games and winning them. So you need to make it a brilliant experience before the game, and hopefully after the game as well.”

The Grand Final kicks-off at 18:00 BST on Saturday at Old Trafford, with all the best reaction available on The Sportsman Rugby League on YouTube.

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