If the chaos caused by the Covid outbreak should have benefitted any Super League side it was Hull KR. The withdrawal of Toronto Wolfpack combined with the cancellation of the leagues below the top flight meant that relegation was immediately taken off the table in 2020. With that pressure released the season was almost a free hit for Rovers. While off the field these were uncertain and scary times what was the worst that could happen on it?
They had found out the answer to that long before Covid wreaked its havoc. In a pre-season run out prop Mose Masoe suffered a dreadful spinal injury which immediately forced his early retirement from the game. The former Saints man was unsure whether he would be able to stand or walk for a time but is happily making good progress. Nevertheless you have to wonder whether the horrible accident which ended his career cast a shadow over Rovers season. It never really seemed to galvanise them.
Coach Tony Smith wasn’t shy about how he would respond to the absence of relegation and the diminished importance of results in the context of Masoe’s injury. Smith told us that his side would play a more open, expansive style. He was true to his word. Rovers were great to watch at times. Only serial gamblers Warrington managed more offloads during the year while Rovers were in the top six for clean breaks also.
Yet the bottom line is that despite removing the shackles tactically Smith saw his side win only three times in 17 outings. Only Wakefield, Wigan and Salford managed to lose to Hull KR in 2020 as the Robins staggered home in 11th and last place on what Australians insist on referring to as the ladder. Despite their relatively high offload and clean break counts none of the Super League sides scored fewer than Rovers’ 52 tries. Catalans Dragons managed 13 more than that despite only playing 13 games. Defensively Rovers were brittle too, missing more tackles and conceding more points than anyone else in the competition.
There are no guarantees for 2021 given that lockdown is likely to be lifted at a glacial pace, but all being well there will be no safety net this time around. If Rovers want to be a Super League club in 2022 they will have to avoid finishing bottom of the pile. That should be their minimum objective. If they are forward thinking and truly progressive they will look for more. Smith has been in position since the middle of the 2019 season. They avoided relegation only on points difference that year but surely the time for improvement is overdue. A coach who has won two Grand Finals and three Challenge Cups hasn’t been hired to fight the drop to the Championship year on year.
In a bid to awaken this narcoleptic giant of a club Smith has overseen the recruitment of four players who plied their trade in the NRL last term. The name best known to British fans is that of Ryan Hall. The former Leeds Rhino struggled to get game time in a star-studded Sydney Roosters team but it is worth noting that he has over 230 tries in his club career and another 36 in 38 games for England. He can show you his medals too, a Grand Final winner on six occasions to add to two Challenge Cup and two World Club Challenge wins. He has the pedigree. The only question is whether he can still cut it at the age of 33 and after two seasons in which he made a total of only 11 appearances for the Roosters.
Less familiar to Rovers fans will be the three non-British NRL imports - Brad Takairangi, Albert Vete and Korbin Sims. Predominantly a centre or back rower but also capable at stand-off, Takairangi was in the Parramatta Eels side which lost to Penrith Panthers at the NRL semi-final stage in 2020. That was only his 10th appearance of the campaign but the 31 year-old does have 178 NRL appearances to his name with the Eels, Gold Coast Titans and the Roosters.
Further bolstering Smith’s back row options is Fijian international utility forward Sims, younger brother of former Warrington and Toronto top-knot Ashton Sims as well as one-time State Of Origin star Tariq. Korbin is 29 and brings with him eight seasons of NRL experience during which he has amassed 141 appearances and scored 18 tries in spells with Newcastle Knights, Brisbane Broncos and St George-Illawarra Dragons. His final campaign with the Dragons was all but ruined by a broken arm picked up in the pre-season nines tournament so he should be keen to get his career back on track.
Perhaps the biggest gamble among the NRL recruits is 28 year-old prop or loose forward Vete who arrives from Melbourne Storm. Vete made just six appearances for the eventual NRL Premiers in 2020 and has made only eight since joining the Victoria outfit in 2018. It is clear that he needs more regular action. Not to say that he won’t be a success. Recent Super League history is littered with examples of players seemingly surplus to requirements in the NRL who become stars on the shores. Conversely there are those who arrive with big expectations and become Josh Perry. It really could go either way.
Most sports analysts and commentators would suggest that strengthening a direct rival is a no-no when conducting your transfer business. There could be much whaling and gnashing of teeth if the decision to let four players join newly promoted Leigh Centurions backfires. Jamie Ellis, Matty Gee, Nathaniel Peteru and Ryan Brierley all head to the Sports Village as Smith starts another rebuild. Ellis showed some classy touches last year, not least of which was his performance in a valiant 32-18 loss to Saints but all too often he missed out on selection to Jordan Abdull and the emerging Mikey Lewis. Gee and Peteru made only 19 appearances between them in 2020 and hardly disturbed any trees let alone pull any up but Brierley has something of the explosive and unpredictable about him that all squads need from time to time.
Other higher profile losses are prop Mitch Garbutt who heads for Toulouse and veteran back rower Weller Hauraki who retired after being released.
Those added to the squad will look to compliment what Smith already has at his disposal. Kane Linnett and Shaun Kenny-Dowall have shown quality since arriving while Greg Minikin is as exciting and unpredictable as anyone called Greg with Castleford Tigers connections. Ben Crooks scored 11 tries last term while Saints fans will know all about how Adam Quinlan giveth and taketh away. The boy ain’t dull to watch.
The pack will be a new one largely though Matt Parcell is a consistent presence and hugely under-rated performer at hooker. Matty Storton, Jez Litten and Elliot Minchella all made strides last year through troubled times and if the new imports gel Rovers could surprise a few. Yet for all that 2021 feels like a movie we have seen before with Rovers, one in which change, upheaval and the odd recruitment gamble again fails to see them challenge the elite. There are probably one, maybe two or three weaker sides than Rovers in the competition but don’t bet the house on them bothering the playoff fixture schedulers.
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