5 takeaways as Hull KR trounce abysmal Salford Red Devils at Craven Park

Hull KR ran riot on home soil, beating Salford Red Devils 42-0 at Craven Park in the opening game of Round 3 in Super League on Thursday night.

Here are our five takeaways…

Hull KR create history

Say what you want about Salford tonight, and we will, but KR took full advantage with a ruthless display.

In doing so, they became the first Robins side ever to win their first three games of a Super League season having beaten Castleford Tigers in Round 1 and Wakefield Trinity in Round 2.

Willie Peters’ side were far from their best in those two opening fixtures, but were much, much better against the Red Devils.

Salford absolutely abysmal

‘Pathetic’ was the verdict Salford boss Paul Rowley used to describe his side’s performance immediately after the game on Sky Sports, and there’s no way anyone who watched even five minutes of the game could argue with that verdict.

The Red Devils were truly, truly abysmal on Thursday evening in both defence and attack. From minute one to 80, we struggle to pick out a single moment of quality from them.

Sin-bins for Jayden Nikorima and Chris Hill made their job harder, but it was as if they’d accepted defeat before taking to the field.

Robins injury woes deepen

The build up to the game was dominated by whether or not Tyrone May would be fit, with half-back partner Mikey Lewis already ruled out.

May wasn’t, meaning KR went into the fixture without two of their key men. And now, Peters has plenty more injury concerns to ponder.

Full-back Niall Evalds’ night was over less than two minutes into the clash with his former side after being forced off and subsequently failing a HIA. Rhyse Martin followed him soon after with what appeared to be a muscle issue.

Elliot Minchella withdrew with a hamstring problem in the second half, and post-match, Peters himself revealed that Joe Burgess was close to coming off at half-time through injury.

Positively, May will be back next week and Lewis could well be, too.

Something you don’t see very often

We’re happy to be corrected, but we don’t think we’ve ever seen this rule come into play before, at least not in Super League.

When Evalds was forced off and failed his HIA two minutes in, KR’s 18th man Sam Luckley was allowed to enter the action.

That’s because Evalds’ permanent withdrawal had been caused by foul play, with Salford playmaker Nikorima shown yellow from referee Aaron Moore for the swinging arm which connected with the full-back.

We’ve seen 18th men called into action before, but not for that reason. You learn something new every day.

The streak rolls on

KR have now won each of their last eight home games against Salford, including the one in October 2020 which was held at the Halliwell Jones Stadium during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

That behind closed doors win actually kickstarted the run, and Thursday night was the fourth time in the most recent seven head-to-heads at Craven Park which have seen the Robins score 40+ points.

If we were Salford, we’d probably just not bother turning up in East Hull again.

• October 2020: Hull KR 24-22 Salford (at Halliwell Jones Stadium during COVID-19 Pandemic)
• June 2021: Hull KR 40-4 Salford
• June 2022: Hull KR 43-16 Salford
• June 2023: Hull KR 28-10 Salford
• September 2023: Hull KR 12-0 Salford
• March 2024: Hull KR 40-0 Salford (Challenge Cup)
• August 2024: Hull KR 32-12 Salford
• February 2025: Hull KR 42-0 Salford