KRIS Welham can barely believe Hull KR have gone from training in their stadium carpark to Super League domination inside two decades.
Willie Peters’ side swept all before them in 2025, capping a year which saw them lift the Challenge Cup for the first time in 45 years and claim the League Leaders’ Shield with a maiden grand final triumph at Old Trafford in October.
Three-quarter Welham was there at the start of the journey when the Robins first earned promotion to Super League for the 2007 season and, having retired at the end of the 2025 season as a Sheffield Eagles player, admitted some jealousy at where his home-city club are now.
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“It’s madness, isn’t it?” Welham, who has been awarded a testimonial year for 2026, told BBC Radio Humberside. “Looking back, when I started we were training on the carpark outside of the main stand on the east under the floodlights there.
“There was a dog track and a speedway track around the pitch, and you couldn’t get on it because it was just boggy mud. It’s unbelievable where the team and the club has come now, and a lot of it goes down to [owner] Neil Hudgell and the dedication he’s put into it and the backroom staff.
“I’m a bit jealous at the minute, knowing I’ve missed out on all that, but we’ve played our part in that bit of history from where the club’s been to where it is now.
“I couldn’t be more proud, being a big fan of the club, and I loved seeing them win all three trophies this year.”
Academy product Welham made a try-scoring debut for Hull KR alongside his brother Liam in a 36-10 defeat away to Leigh in National League One in 2006, and went on to score 102 tries in 191 appearances before departing after the 2015 season for spells with Bradford Bulls, Salford Red Devils, Featherstone Rovers and Sheffield.
The Robins were relegated the following year in an epic Million Pound Game decider against Salford, but bounced back at the first attempt and have since progressed to become one of Super League’s leading lights.
The wheels for that were arguably set in motion during Welham’s formative years at the club under head coach Justin Morgan, though, and the 38-year-old believes the arrival of several Australian playing imports played a big part in their rise.
“Ben Galea, Clint Newton and Mick Vella – when those boys came over they changed the dynamic in the club,” Welham said.
“It became a lot more professional, there were rules to abide by, and they brought their dedication and commitment over, and a lot of the English boys followed that.”