{"id":226125,"date":"2025-10-26T08:09:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T08:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226125\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T08:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T08:09:08","slug":"michael-mcilorums-hull-kr-revelation-rovers-will-love-but-may-upset-wigan-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226125\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael McIlorum’s Hull KR revelation Rovers will love but may upset Wigan Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael McIlorum cemented his name into Hull KR folklore in just 12 months.\"HullHull KR’s Michael McIlorum thanks the fans and supporters.<\/p>\n

Hull KR\u2019s treble-winning hooker Michael McIlorum has paid the ultimate compliment to the fans who backed him throughout his 12 months in East Hull.<\/p>\n

Having sacrificed a year away from his partner and daughter to prove that \u201cdad\u2019s a winner,\u201d<\/a> the 37-year-old now returns to France to join Joel Tomkins\u2019 coaching staff at Catalans Dragons.<\/p>\n

McIlorum ended his decorated career with another Grand Final ring, helping dethrone former club Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford to complete a historic season for the Robins.<\/p>\n

His move to Sewell Group Craven Park after seven years in Perpignan was one of the surprise transfers of the season. The veteran admitted he only knew of Hull KR<\/a> \u2019s support from the opposing side – and wasn\u2019t sure how he\u2019d be received given his competitive reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve obviously played against Hull KR, and I knew they were loud and passionate and they\u2019ve given me some abuse over the years. But to be a part of it and for them to cheer for you, it\u2019s a different experience and I didn\u2019t realise how passionate they were,\u201d McIlorum said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe connection between the players and the fans, it\u2019s like a part of the club. It\u2019s hard to describe.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlorum admitted that the support he received took him by surprise, especially given his long spell with Wigan – where he won Grand Finals in 2010 and 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support and encouragement made me feel really welcome, even though I played at Wigan for so many years and I\u2019m sure they hated us,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I play as well, I know I\u2019m not the most liked player, but as soon as I came here, they took to me straight away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank them for their support. We\u2019ve been pushed on so much by their support, and it felt like the best sort of support that I\u2019ve felt at a club.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former England and Ireland international joins ex-Sydney Roosters, Newcastle Knights and Catalans half-back Mitchell Pearce as part of a new-look coaching setup in the south of France, in a new era under Tomkins.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext year is going to be great, we\u2019re all inexperienced coaches and I\u2019m sure it\u2019s going to be challenging and testing, but I\u2019m excited for that challenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After nearly two decades as one of rugby league<\/a>\u2019s fiercest number nines, could McIlorum ever be tempted to lace up the boots again?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Joel asks me to play, I wouldn\u2019t say no,\u201d McIlorum smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWillie Peters asked me at the start of the year if I\u2019d do another season. I said I\u2019d love to, but I need to get back to my family in France. It\u2019s been a difficult year in terms of that and being away from my family. That was always the plan, one year and get back.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo win a treble, in any year – not just my last year – is really special with a close group of people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael McIlorum cemented his name into Hull KR folklore in just 12 months.Hull KR’s Michael McIlorum thanks the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[20372,5903,20370,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-226125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-hull-kr","9":"tag-rugby","10":"tag-rugby-league","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}