McGUIRE SECURES ROVERS’ SAFETY
Veteran Danny staves off the drop
DANNY McGUIRE used all of his vast experience to guide Hull Kingston Rovers to Super League safety against already-relegated Widnes.
Needing to win by 14 points to leapfrog Toronto into the final automatic top-flight place, eight-time Grand Final winner McGuire (right) helped them keep a cool head after last week’s collapse in Toulouse.
There, Rovers threw a 19-0 lead away to lose, but that scenario never looked likely to be repeated, and the Canadian side will now host London Broncos in the Million Pound Game on Sunday. McGuire created three first-half tries on the back of a solid performance from the home pack, while veteran Maurice Blair also impressed after coming on for broken-rib victim Todd Carney in the seventh minute.
Rovers coach Tim Sheens said: “There is relief. It is stressful, there was a whole heap of things at stake. You can lose a Grand Final and not have as much stress as that.”
The game had an added complication with Super League clubs having agreed to put £500,000 aside for a parachute payment for relegated teams - which would have been split between the two clubs had Rovers dropped down. The RFL even issued a pre-match statement saying there should be no question of integrity around the Vikings.
The fact that Widnes have not beaten a Super League side since March was more relevant, and they never looked possible winners.
Interim coach Francis Cummins said: “We showed effort. But generally our good play ends in a near-miss and that’s been the story of our season – they worked hard but lacked quality.”
Rovers had a prematch good luck message from captain Shaun Lunt played over the tannoy – and on the final hooter he confirmed the meningitis that has confined him to a hospital bed is no longer contagious.
His side had eroded the 14point difference they needed to by the 20th minute, with McGuire creating tries for James Greenwood and Ben Crooks.
McGuire then broke to send Chris Atkin over before halftime and make it 20-0, and further tries from Junior Vaivai and Craig Hall completed the victory.
Sheens confirmed the expected arrivals of Weller Hauraki, Ryan Lannon and Jimmy Keinhorst for next year and added: “We know what our budget is now and we’ll be talking to players.”