Rooted to the bottom of the table after the opening four weekends of the season, it has been far from an ideal start to Super League XX for Hull Kingston Rovers. One win from four games has already triggered fears of being dragged into a relegation tussle, but it has not stopped the former England international Shaun Lunt making the switch from rivals Huddersfield.
Lunt, a Super League winner with Leeds during a 2012 loan spell, has signed for Rovers until the end of the season with a view to a permanent deal. He is in line to make his debut against Catalans Dragons on Sunday and is targeting a similar revival to that of the Dragons’ opening in 2014, to kick-start Hull KR’s season.
It took Catalans six weeks last season to win their first game, but they would eventually regroup, storm away from the bottom of the Super League and end up one game away from a maiden Grand Final appearance at Old Trafford, losing out to the eventual champions St Helens in the play-offs.
In this ever-changing early table, a couple of wins can quickly hoist a side up and away from the bottom four, something Lunt is only too aware could happen with Hull KR should they claim a vital win against the French club. “You’ve only got to look at what Catalans did last year,” Lunt said. “They lost five on the bounce at the start of the year and amazingly ended up just one game away from the Grand Final.
“Everyone wants to be in that top eight after 23 games and a good run of form now can help steer us towards it. Once you’re in that top eight, you’re in with a shot of having a tilt at the Grand Final.”
Lunt also insisted Hull KR’s early season form does not trouble him, especially when compared with parent club Huddersfield, who had won only one of their first four matches before their 22-0 drubbing of Castleford.
For the 27-year-old, the move to Hull KR simply represents an opportunity to enjoy his rugby again. “A lot of people have brought up Hull KR’s results so far this season, but before this round of matches Huddersfield were just one place above them,” he said.
“It’s totally irrelevant; even if Huddersfield had been at the top and Rovers were still at the bottom, I would have just been sat in the reserves at Huddersfield. I’m grateful to Hull KR for this chance.
“It’s a really exciting challenge: it’s a fantastic club and everyone has made me feel so welcome, from the CEO to the coaches and the backroom staff, right through to the playing squad.”
Sunday’s other match sees Wakefield travel to Salford, a game in which the Wakefield half-back Tim Smith will face his former club.
Smith, who signed for Salford last year before returning to West Yorkshire midway through the season, insists that after two straight defeats in recent weeks to Widnes and St Helens, the game has extra significance for Wakefield against a Salford side who are unbeaten in their last two matches.
“It’s an important game for us, we want the two points but we’re under no illusions about how tough a game it will be,” Smith said.
“We’re two out of four, and this is a huge game for us to keep up a decent start to the season and snap our recent losing run.”
