It’s fair to say the start of the 2026 Super League season has not gone to plan for Hull KR.
The Robins have won just one of their four Super League fixtures so far and they sit 11th in the table as a result. Those defeats have come against newly promoted York Knights in round one, Leeds Rhinos in Las Vegas and Catalans Dragons in Perpignan with the success over Huddersfield Giants keeping them off bottom.
KR have won the World Club Challenge this year, while they have successfully secured a Challenge Cup quarter-final berth to provide some positivity, but in the Super League, things are proving a little trickier than expected for last year’s treble winners.
No one at Craven Park will be panicking, though. After all, we’re just five rounds into a 27-game season and after the schedule they’ve had over the first couple of months, some hiccups were more than likely inevitable.
However, Willie Peters and co will have no interest in allowing themselves to lose more ground in the Super League table and the head coach will be working tirelessly to ensure KR can finally find the traction they’ve been looking for in their league campaign.
Now, building form and a head of steam is easier said than done, particularly in this year’s super competitive Super League. But, that’s what KR must do over a month that promises to be absolutely pivotal one way or the other.
That four-game run kicks off this week as they prepare to play a Super League game at Craven Park for the first time since their play-off semi-final win last October. St Helens were the opponents then and the Saints will travel to east Hull this week, too.
However, it’s fair to say Paul Rowley’s side make the journey with their tails up and having seen KR struggle so far, they’ll be keen to pile the misery on Rovers on Friday night by claiming their fifth Super League win on the spin.
The Saints aren’t firing on all cylinders just yet and they are lacking numbers in the pack, but they look set to welcome back at least one key man in Daryl Clark and that partnership between Jackson Hastings, Tristan Sailor and Harry Robertson is improving week on week. It’s an acid test for them, this game, but it’s an even bigger test of KR’s mettle and mindset right now as they look to leave their woes behind them.
The small matter of the Good Friday Hull derby follows a week later and Hull FC will have taken heaps of confidence out of beating Leeds Rhinos last weekend. Regardless of how they fare against Catalans Dragons this weekend, they’ll make the short journey over the River Hull with belief that they can pick up a first derby win since 2023 against their nearest and dearest rivals and how they’d love to hand Rovers another Super League defeat.
KR then host York Knights in the Cup quarters and they have some revenge to dish out after losing to the Knights in round one. It’s a knock out tie, of course, and if KR aren’t at it, they risk seeing their defence of the Challenge Cup being ended.
And, to wrap up a month in which we will almost certainly learn plenty about the Robins’ trophy-winning credentials, KR go to Toulouse Olympique. Having lost on their travels in Perpignan and Las Vegas, questions might be asked if they don’t pick up the result at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.
It’s early days, and as mentioned above, no one at Craven Park will be panicking. But, Peters’ Hull KR are in unknown territory right now and we’ll know an awful lot more about them in four weeks’ time.
Luke Robinson sacked, Hull KR struggling and why it could actually be Warrington Wolves’ year? – click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show
