Toughest test insists Sheens
HULL KR coach Tim Sheens is urging his players to prepare for their toughest test of the season when Widnes visit KCOM Craven Park in the fifth round of the Middle 8s today.
Rovers have won all four games so far and victory over the Vikings would take them another step towards automatic promotion back to Super League, especially if fourthplaced Leigh lose at Warrington, the other team with a 100 per cent record so far.
The top three clubs will be in the top flight in 2018, while the fourth and fifth-placed teams will fight it out for the other spot via the dreaded Million-Pound Game, which Rovers lost to Salford in 2016.
The Warrington game kicks off 15 minutes earlier but Sheens insists he will not be keeping an ear out for the result and he does not want his players thinking about it either.
“Winning this game doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll be promoted, losing it doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t be,” Sheens said.
“It just comes down to focusing on this game and this week.
“I won’t be interested in the Warrington versus Leigh game even with 15 minutes to go. Who knows where we are going to be at that point in our match, and it’s just going to be about us winning.
“The fans may know what’s going on at Warrington but I don’t want to and I don’t want my players to, because winning is what we need to do. Whether Warrington win or not, we still want to win this game.”
Widnes, who finished bottom of the Super League table at the end of the regular season, have boosted their survival hopes with a run of three wins but suffered a double blow in their victory over Leigh last Sunday, losing full-back Rhys Hanbury and half-back Danny Craven to seasonending injuries.
“I think this will be the toughest game we’ve had so far this year,” Sheens added.
“I think they’ve been the bestperforming side in this competition if you look at their form over the last few weeks. They’ve really been going well and, although I know they’ve got a few issues with their spine, the options they’ve got to bring in are still very good players who have been playing Super League all year.
“They’re battle-hardened and whilst we are also, it’s not to that level. It’s a real challenge for our players to raise themselves to the level that we reached against Leigh this year.”
In today’s other Middle 8s game, Catalans Dragons take on parttimers Featherstone in Perpignan, where captain Remi Casty will make the 300th appearance of his career.
Castleford Lock Lane v Milford Marlins, Featherstone Lions v Hunslet Parkside, Hunslet Warriors v Underbank Rangers, Ince Rose Bridge v Hull Dockers, Normanton Knights v York Acorn, Shaw Cross Sharks v Blackbrook (all 2.30pm) London Broncos v Halifax (3pm) Dewsbury Rams v Bradford Bulls, Sheffield Eagles v Rochdale Hornets, Swinton v Oldham (all 3pm) Doncaster v Newcastle Thunder, Keighley v Workington, Whitehaven v York (all 3pm) Hemel Stags v Hunslet