Hull KR player ratings from Super League Grand Final as Robins beaten by Wigan Warriors

Hull KR’s first Super League Grand Final ended in defeat, with the Robins beaten 9-2 by serial winners Wigan Warriors at Od Trafford on Saturday night.

The Robins conceded just one try, from Bevan French, with Adam Keighran converting and scoring a second half penalty. Harry Smith also kicked a drop goal on the stroke of half-time.

Here are our KR player ratings from the press box at the Theatre of Dreams…

Niall Evalds – 5

As was the case for most in a navy shirt on Saturday evening, full-back Evalds was largely ineffective in attack. A mixup in defence from a high bomb in the first half which saw Liam Marshall ground for a try would have left him red-faced but for one of the Warriors’ chasers being too eager to get to the ball.

Joe Burgess – 5

Ex-Wigan man Burgess was kept quiet all night long, and was also involved in the mix-up which led to that Marshall incident. The winger’s best moment, in our opinion, came late on when he helped to put Jake Wardle into touch.

Peta Hiku – 5

Copy and paste what we said about Burgess but replace his surname with ‘Hiku’ and replace ‘winger’ with ‘centre’. The Robins never got going, really, and Hiku didn’t either on an individual basis.

Jack Broadbent – 5

Broadbent showed a bit more life than those mentioned so far going forward, being held up over the line in the second half. He knocked on under the challenge of Keighran in his own half with around 15 minutes left though, and there were too many moments like that for KR to stand a chance.

Ryan Hall – 6

Hall was one of Rovers’ best performers on the night, putting in a decent display in his final appearance for the club ahead of his return to Leeds Rhinos in 2025. The veteran winger was held up over the line a couple of times, and stopped a certain try from Jake Wardle late on at the other end.

Tyrone May – 5

In the early stages, it looked as though May’s high jump trying to latch onto Mikey Lewis’ bomb kicks would cause issues for Wigan, but that didn’t prove to be the case. He helped to put Wardle into touch late on at the other end, but we didn’t see enough of him at all.

Mikey Lewis – 5

The Man of Steel was outclassed by opposite number French, being sold down the river for the try scored by the Wigan ace. Lewis’ kicks had caused some issues for the Warriors early on, and he scored KR’s only points of the evening with a second half penalty, but gave one away too. Not a great performance.

Sauaso ‘Jesse’ Sue – 5

An uncharacteristically poor showing from Sue, who knocked on early in the second half to summarise KR’s woes. As we’ve noted already, he was far from on his own in failing to deliver on the big stage.

Matt Parcell – 6

Parcell’s last appearance for KR before returning to Australia ended in a heartbreaking defeat, but he delivered a positive individual showing. Consistently looking to make things happen with the ball in hand, and breaking out of dummy-half frequently, he only left the field 17 minutes prior to the final hooter. A class act

Jai Whitbread – 5

Just like front-row partner Sue, we were left disappointed with Whitbread’s display at Old Trafford, which isn’t something we’ve said often this year. Tiring, he knocked on close to the Wigan try-line in the first half, and was withdrawn by boss Peters soon after. The prop returned to the field in the second half, but he didn’t have a huge impact.

Dean Hadley – 6

Hadley was less effective than we’ve seen over the last few months, but was still a tackling machine for the large part. A true unsung hero in this Robins team all year, he played 71 minutes at Old Trafford. Most would love him in their team.

James Batchelor – 5

There were a few big hits early on from Batchelor in defence, including one which forced Wigan youngster Junior Nsemba off for a HIA. Wigan got the better of him, and the Robins on the whole, though,

Elliot Minchella – 5

Skipper Minchella returned from suspension for KR on Saturday night, and a smart offload close to the line in the first half looked to have got his side over for a try. That didn’t prove to be the case, and the Warriors got on top of him soon after. A disappointing evening.

Jez Litten (interchange) – 4

Litten came on for Parcell with 17 minutes remaining and attempted a burst out of dummy-half almost instantly. He got dumped on his backside by a Wigan defender, and that was really the last we saw of him.

Sam Luckley (interchange) – 4

Luckley had a couple of stints on the field at Old Trafford, but struggled to make a real impact. He was far from on his own in that, but Wigan’s pack dominated.

Matty Storton (interchange) – N/A

Storton only came on in the dying minutes of the game.

Kelepi Tanginoa (interchange) – 5

Tanginoa entered the action after just 18 minutes and was explosive, breaking through the Warriors line almost instantly. After that though, he faded into the background along with the rest of his team-mates as Wigan’s quality shone through.