Robins to Rock Super League?

Sunday's NL1 Grand Final victory over Widnes saw Hull KR achieve what they thoroughly deserved and will see them rubbing shoulders with the game's elite in Super League XII.



After leading the National League table from start to finish, a season in which included 15 consecutive league victories, a National Rail Cup Final and a Challenge Cup semi-final it was only right that Justin Morgan's young side ended off the year with a convincing victory over the Vikings at Warrington.

But for all the celebrations, the hard work now begins to ensure that the Robins don't follow the same path as Leigh Centurions and Castleford by dropping straight back down to where they once came within the space of twelve months. Coach Justin Morgan believes that he'll need around 12 new faces at Craven Park to give Hull a fighting chance of avoiding the drop and already claims to have some "irons in the fire" with regards to new players coming in.

So are Hull KR capable of avoiding the drop? Probably not.

The basis of the Hull side is excellent. The club has a strong blend of young talent such as Scott Murrell, Ben Cockayne, Tommy Gallagher and Byron Ford alongside the experienced heads of Francis Stephenson, Makali Aizue and Michael Smith but that alone won't keep them up.
The full-time professionals of the Rovers stood out amongst a largely semi-pro league. Whilst the likes of Widnes and Leigh were also both full-time, those sides were still left picking up the pieces of last season's relegation and so that left KR as the most talented squad in the National League.

Next season the men from East Hull will be akin to tadpoles, let alone small fish, in a very big pond and whilst they may well compete in some fixtures, the professionalism, skill and fitness of the current band of England's higher reaches will prove the difference.

As for attracting the 12 players required to Craven Park, that could prove much more difficult that people may imagine. Ryan McGoldrick and Fui Fui Moi Moi are names currently being touted but more is needed.
The nature of the Rugby League transfer market and the 'anti-tamper' system means that most available players are already committed to new contracts with other clubs. No player will be prepared to hang around for a National League One side, in the hope that they will achieve promotion. That effectively means that Hull KR are browsing the 'clearance' section of the market. The players that are around at this stage of the season are the players that no over club wants on it's books.

Whilst Hull KR may well have an impressive looking side by the time they kick off their Super League careers in February, the fact remains that whatever side they do eventually put together, the traditional relegation candidates such as Salford, Wakefield and Harlequins have also moved on and that will ultimately leave the Robins stranded at the foot of the table.

I'm no fan of automation promotion and relegation. Not because I'm anti-lower league but because the current system leaves the promoted side with too high a mountain to climb.
English Rugby League is not like football. The sport cannot support 25-30 "big" clubs with resources in abundance. The talent pool for players we have in this country and the current transfer system means that for promoted sides, staying in Super League is fast becoming a futile exercise.
Instead, abolishing automatic promotion and relegation will increase the talent pool by vastly reducing the need for clubs to circumvent the foreigners quota through the Kolpak ruling. By doing this, they will be able to experiment exposing their young players to first team rugby, without fear of the repercussions should the experiment fail.

Enjoy Super League Rovers, it'll be over pretty soon.