BY JOHN DAVIDSON
“Winning isn’t something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.” ~ Emmitt Smith, legendary Dallas Cowboys running back.
It’s a crisp December morning in east Yorkshire. The sun is trying to peak through the clouds, unsuccessfully, and the temperature sits at three degrees.
In this strange post-Christmas/pre-New Year’s period, your humble scribe would normally be tucked inside, warm and relaxed, adding to his festive weight gain. Instead, he finds himself at Craven Park watching the Super League champions go about their business in the freezing middle of pre-season.
It’s 8.15am and I’m standing sideline at Hull KR’s 3G community pitch, which opened just over a year ago. What was once a mud-ridden dirt road next to the stadium, where the media would park their cars on match days, is now a gleaming astro turf facility that cost £1.8 million to build and is used by the whole community. What was once a reminder of struggle and hardship is now shiny and bright, and a key part of the Robins’ rise to the top.
Meetings have run over and already I can see a handful of players being put through their paces in the adjacent indoor gym. But then the coaches and support staff arrive, placing cones and assembling the field for their season.
They are led by Luke Gale and Ian Watson, the two new assistant coaches, who have replaced Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Danny Ward at Hull KR, respectively. In a former Man of Steel and England international, and a head coach who has reached two Challenge Cup finals and a Super League grand final, they possess considerable experience and knowledge. Both are warm and courteous as they enter the field.
A boom box is brought onto the pitch, pumping out upbeat dance classics. A decent distraction to what becomes a gruelling test of lungs, limbs and wills.
The players then arrive on the field, a group of just under 30, and the session officially begins with Gale taking charge. It’s a nice way to warm up both the hands and the lungs.
The formal session begins with a series of exercises and drills that improve both fitness and skills. All the while head coach Willie Peters is watching and observing quietly, and a drone flies high above the field, filming the session in its entirety.
Some of the drills see the players broken into small groups, others larger groups, but all are a blur of movement and talk, with constant communication the mantra.
This exercise goes on and then another begins. One of the support staff shouts “I fucking love this”, “Outstanding,” and “Awesome” in encouragement as the players move forward and back, again and again.
At this point, I wonder how all of these players seem to continue without a look of pure exhaustion or worry, not to mention a tension-relieving vomit, despite what would be a back-breaking workload for mere mortals. Then there is the realisation of what elite professional players put themselves through every day, ad nauseam, and the reminder comes that they are anything but normal human beings.
This exercise ends and the Malcolms – that classic rugby league invention – begin. Players starting chest-first on the ground before they get up and run to the 10 metre line, hit the turf there before running back 10 metres, hitting the turf again and then running the full length of the pitch. It is carried out for what seems to me like eternity. I’ve lost count of how many they complete.
The former Manly, Castleford and Great Britain great would be proud.
After what has been about 90 minutes in total, the session stops and the full group comes together in a huddle. Peters speaks and the players get a few minutes rest. But for the Robins squad, the day is far from over.
Gym workouts and meetings remain. The group then gets a few days off before they return to the grind once more, before a trip to Tenerife on January 8. They will spend nine days in the Spanish sun training and working, but Peters tells me the trip is more about connection and team spirit. The players are clearly craving a change in climate, and the Tenerife trip will focus on building culture and relationships within the group.
If Hull KR are to have any chance of repeating their iconic 2025 campaign or defending their historic title, then no stone will be left unturned. On this early evidence, on a cold December, the foundation is being set.
“Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.” – Former NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal.