Hull KR have identified ‘numerous people’ in their bid to hire a replacement for outgoing head coach Willie Peters, with chairman Paul Sewell offering an update.
It was confirmed in late March that Willie Peters would leave Hull KR at the end of the 2026 season and take up the head coach role at the NRL’s latest expansion side, the PNG Chiefs.
Announced as the club’s new head coach in mid-2022 ahead of his start date for the 2023 season, Hull KR have had their most successful period in Super League history under the Australian, who has been widely credited with creating a winning culture at the club.
That was something Sewell alluded to when speaking to BBC Humberside ahead of Hull KR’s Challenge Cup final against Wigan, with Sewell admitting: “Willie has been everything.
“We’ve got a really tight-knit bunch and Willie came into the bunch four years ago. Between me and you, I don’t think he wants to go but I’m working on it… That’s a joke by the way.”
No rush to hire new Hull KR head coach
Appointing a replacement for Peters will be a huge task but it’s one that is underway and one that Sewell explained will not be rushed.
“We’re doing it properly, we’re not just going to rush into it,” he said, adding: “When the right person comes along, they’ll get appointed.
“We’ve got the patience to wait, we’re a stable group, we’re a good group, the coaching backroom staff are fine, the culture is fine, so it means we don’t have to rush into anything. We’ve just got to get it right.”
On the process, he said: “We’ve identified numerous people. It’s a narrowing process, we’re narrowing it down to two or three and we’ve been talking to two or three people but it’s got to be right.
“It’s got to be right for them, some of them are moving a long way, I’ve given something away there, but some of them are moving families a long way so it’s got to be right for the person and it’s got to be right for the club.”
Having let slip that the new Hull KR boss could be travelling a long way, Sewell was more careful with his words as he was asked if the new coach would be an Australian, responding: “Possibly.”
He also noted that whilst the appointment would ideally be early, the club are more focused on getting the right person.
Sewell said: “In a perfect world, you’d like to make it as early as possible because there’s recruitment. I know we’re a very stable squad and a lot of the recruitment is over but there are two or three spots and we’d like the new coach to have a say on that.
“It’s more important to get the right person in the right circumstances than that is.”
