Brett Hodgson has looked ahead to his first experience of a Hull Debry as head coach of the Black & Whites.
It’ll be the first time Hull have faced the Robins since Hodgson took the reigns in December 2020, with the match expected to be one of the fiercest contents between the cross-city rivals of the last decade, such is the proximity of the teams in the Betfred Super League table.
But with the sides in contrasting form of late, Hull will be boosted by the return of several key stars to the starting line-up on Saturday.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, in association with Jacuzzi, Hodgson confirmed: “We’ve got a number of players back this week, which is a huge boost and it’s nice to have a few selection headaches for a change too. We’ll still have a couple of players unavailable, but we’re looking strong.
“We know we’ve had a period where we haven’t reached our potential, and our last four results show that, but we now have a chance to refresh with some bodies back.
“We’re coming up against a side who are playing well, and it’s the biggest game in both side’s season, so we’re not going to underestimate the game.”
And Hodgson says his first taste of the rivalry has already happened, and is expecting the excitement and intensity to increase as Saturday draws nearer.
“I was grabbing a coffee the other day and a couple of people starting giving it to me shouting “Go the Robins”, so I don’t know what they put in the coffee! I love the rivalry though, it’s brilliant.
“But until you’ve experienced a Hull Derby for yourself, I don’t think you can know fully what to expect from the game. The atmosphere has been building all week, you’ve really been able to sense that at the training ground and around the city. Everyone is talking about it.
“We need to use all of the emotion involved though to inspire us, but that alone won’t get us over the line. We know it’s a huge game and we can’t get away from that. You’ve got to be in the right mindset and we’ve spoken about how we can rise to the occasion because Rovers will come here and throw everything at us.”
On the Robins, he added: “They’ve been very good, and without some key players over the last few weeks too.
“Their second phase of attack and offloads can be dangerous, and they have some big boys who carry the ball strong too with the likes of Takarangi, Hall and Kenny-Dowall. Jez Litten and Matt Parcell can be quick out of dummy-half too. We’ll prepare and plan to deal with that and isolate individuals where we can.
“We have to slow the ruck down, win our contacts and stay consistent.
“I played under Tony Smith for a number of years and his side’s love to ask questions of defensive lines with that second phase. I had three years under him at Warrington and and he was the assistant at Parramatta when I was over there. I’ve learnt some things from him along the way but it’ll be a different dynamic this weekend.”
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