Willie Peters says Hull KR ready to go forward – with South Sydney comparison
WILLIE Peters is ready for a Hull KR revolution – both on and off the field.
And he can already see similarities between the Robins and NRL giants South Sydney.
The Australian is looking to take the Robins to the Super League play offs in his first season in charge after replacing Tony Smith and stand-in Danny McGuire.
And he admits the changes in the Craven Park boardroom, with Dr Paul Sewell and James McNicol joining chief executive Paul Lakin and owner Neil Hudgell as they broaden their base with big things at the stadium in the pipeline, can translate on to the pitch.
Peters said: “They work hand in hand. You need to get the off-field stuff right then the on-field things will come.
“We’re not too far off. We’ve a lot of good things in place and there are a lot of positive things that will happen going forward.
“Win rugby league games and it makes things a lot easier to build but you need to get your foundations right off the field and we’re heading in the right direction.
“I can see a lot of similarities with the Rabbitohs, a junior club of mine, in terms of the fans base – working class people who absolutely love their rugby league.
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“They just want a team that competes and that’s what we’ll give them.
“I had a good six months to build, plan and prepare – that put me in a really good position for when I came over.
“The main focus was to meet everyone and build relationships. The impressions I have now I’m here aren’t very different than what I had before I arrived.
“I knew who we were as a team, our strengths and what we needed to work on.”
Peters will see his side in action for the first time when KR face Featherstone in Craig Hall’s testimonial.
And he will use memories of his own playing days as new boy from the NRL Tom Opacic makes his English bow at a Championship ground as winter strikes.
Peters, who played for Gateshead and Wigan at the turn of the century, added: “I remember playing in Sheffield 22 years ago and it was a really good grounding for me of what the game was like here.
“You go to a ground like Featherstone, with a hostile crowd that’s really passionate, and I remember what it was all about.
“It’ll be a good grounding for him.”