Aussie Sheens rules again
TIM SHEENS steered Hull KR to their first win of the season and condemned rival coach Steve McNamara to a third successive defeat – leaving Catalans rock-bottom.
Both sides had tasted defeat in their opening two games and it was newly promoted Rovers who prevailed in the battle of the early season strugglers.
Revered former Australia coach Sheens guided the Robins back to the Super League at the first attempt last year and is now seeking to make them an established force. The 67-year-old crossed
HULL KR CATALANS
swords with McNamara when he was in charge of the Kangaroos and the Catalans head coach was in the England hotseat.
McNamara failed to engineer a victory over Australia during his five-year reign and he was on the receiving end again last night.
The hosts had too much for a Dragons side who survived relegation by the skin of their teeth last season. Rovers led in the fifth minute when debutant Will Dagger found Ryan Shaw, below, and the winger dived over the line to touch down.
Both sides struggled for fluency but Rovers kept probing and were rewarded with two tries in four minutes shortly before half-time to secure a 16-0 interval lead.
In the 34th minute, Mose Masoe showed brute strength to outmuscle the Catalans defence and crash over the line for a try that Shaw converted. That made it 10-0 and a third home score arrived in the 38th minute when hooker Shaun Lunt darted over.
Shaw’s conversion made it 16-0 and that advantage was stretched 10 minutes after the restart when Danny Tickle, making his first start, barged over the line. Catalans were second-best throughout and, although David Mead scampered down the right flank to score on the hour, Chris Atkin’s late drop-goal finished off the Frenchmen.