BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Willie Peters has urged his Hull KR players to improve and get better, and says comparisons with last season’s heroics end now.
The Robins enjoyed arguably the greatest campaign in the club’s 144-year history in 2025, winning a treble of Super League, League Leader’s Shield and Challenge Cup trophies.
But with the 2026 season merely a month away, coach Peters says this year is all about improvement and going further in everything the club does, not looking back.
“You can’t compare to last year,” Peters told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“It’s a new year, we’ve got some new players in. But what we can compare it to and be accountable to is what we value and what our pillars are, and making sure we do that every day.
“You can get carried away in what you’ve done and forget about what you need to do.
“I know there’s going to be 13 hungry teams this year.
“There’s some teams that have put really strong rosters together and it’s going to be quite competitive. There’s some teams from the Championship coming up and I’m not sure how they’ll fare halfway through the year/towards the back end.
“But there’s no doubt at the front end they’ll be well up for it.”
Hull KR are looking to defend their Super League crown, and face York Knights away on February 12 in their season opener. They then take on NRL champions Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Challenge, before heading to Las Vegas to meet Leeds Rhinos on American soil at Allegiant Stadium.
Peters is unconcerned about his team being a target for other sides in Super League and rivals lifting their game when they play the Robins.
“I think they were last year [anyway],” he said.
“That doesn’t worry me too much. We know that, when we came second the year before, naturally, teams took us seriously.
“Every team we played at home it was a tougher game than it was previously because they knew it was going to be a challenge in terms of crowds and where the team was at.
“That side of it, you have to be comfortable with that.
“But we always talk about it’s not about other teams, it’s about us, how we can improve and how we can get better.
“And holding each other accountable to that, and if you do that, then you will improve and get better.”