The OUTRAGEOUS stats behind Hull KR’s meteoric climb to the Super League summit
Hull KR sit top of the table heading into the final rounds
Hull KR head into Magic Weekend at the top of the table, and if results go their way could get a lead on second-placed Wigan Warriors.
Willie Peters’ side were incredibly impressive last season, but a meteoric improvement means they now find themselves in pole position for both the League Leaders’ Shield and an all-important home semi-final.
The Robins have put on some seriously good showings this season, and this is certainly reflected in their season stats.
Deadly attack
Rovers currently have the most potent attack in Super League. They have grabbed a tidy haul of 99 tries at the time of writing (4.7 per game) – the most in the division – , and have also racked up the most assists this season too with 83. Despite their goal-kicking issues also lead the way for overall points scored this season with 539, working out at 25.6 points per game.
These all reflect their genuine attacking intent, and more importantly are proving to be deadly when given a chance to score.
Whilst their points totals are incredibly impressive, this is backed up by their all-round attacking play.
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The Robins once again sit top of the charts for both meters (27749) and carries (4023), but importantly it’s the players who are doing these which makes it an interesting point.
The backs are taking on their fair share of the carrying load, with Ryan Hall (391), Peta Hiku (334) and Mikey Lewis (313) all sitting in the league’s top 10 for carrying, and these players are proving to be the ones getting them on the front foot. Whilst Ryan Hall also takes his fair share of the carries out of the backfield, having three backs leading the way again reflects their intent to spread the ball wide and utilise their main attacking weapons to score points or break through the line.
This trio again lead the way for the Robins for meters too, with Hall racking up 2922, Hiku contributing 2798 and Lewis chipping in with 2042 meters. As mentioned above, this reflects their intent to spread the ball wide and utilise their main attacking threats to get them on the upper hand.
Ball retention
Something that should also catch the eye is the offloading stats too. KR have thrown the most offloads out of anyone in the league, with a whopping 241 across their 21 games to date. These figures prove they look to keep plays alive and get second-phase rather than just accepting tackles, and more often than not they actually offload onto a strike runner to then break through the defence and get go-forward ball.
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These offloads also allow players like Lewis to thrive, as they get some form of broken field to attack through and actually get them more time on the ball to put others through space.
Another interesting point is there error count. Whilst they sit around mid-table for errors with 207, they are still making far fewer than some of their play-off rivals. This decent error count in turn allows them to keep a high completion rate and build through sets.
Frightening defence
The headlines might be dominated by their attacking prowess, their defence is also incredibly solid. They have made an impressive 6401 tackles thus far, but again it’s who is making these tackles that’s even more important.
Elliot Minchella (675), Dean Hadley (648) and James Batchelor (583) lead the way for Rovers in the tackling stats, which proves they are keeping opposition attacks fairly narrow and preventing them from getting to the outside edges. This is further backed up by their marker tackle stats, as they boast a solid 1049.
Rovers’ tackle stats have allowed them to have the best defensive record in Super League, conceding just 264 points across the season – an average of 12.6 per game.
Terrific home record
All these different metrics look great on paper, but we all know it’s winning games that counts; and luckily for them that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Willie Peters’ side have won 16 games this season, but the bulk of this have come at Craven Park. The Robins have won 9 of their 11 home fixtures to date, and the two they have lost have only been lost by a collective 3 points (one point loss to Catalans and two point loss to Warrington).
Their away form is also decent, winning 7 of their 10 fixtures, but they have made Craven Park a proper fortress, and with the probability of a home semi-final you wouldn’t want to be the team that faces them in East Hull.
