Dobson aiming to be at his peak
Hull Kingston Rovers talisman Michael Dobson is looking to guide his side to glory when they face Wigan Warriors in an Engage Super League Elimination Semi-final at the DW Stadium on Friday. (8:00pm)
The scrum-half delivered an outstanding display in Rovers’ play-off victory at Hull FC last week and aims to put in another stellar performance to help steer the Robins to within 80 minutes of a place in the Engage Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday October 2.
Speaking to SL TV, Dobson said: “I think we put in a pretty good performance last Saturday night and we’re going to have to repeat that and probably play even better if we’re going to beat Wigan on Friday.”
The victory over Hull FC was the first time Rovers had beaten their neighbours this season and with Dobson returning to his former club Wigan – who are the only other side the East Hull club have failed to beat this season – he is determined to leave the DW Stadium victorious.
“It felt very good to beat FC to be honest,” he said. “We put a lot of energy into that game, they’ve had the wood over us this year but in such an important game, to win and progress through the play-offs was very satisfying.
“It’s given us a lot of encouragement and hopefully we can get on a bit of a roll now in the play-offs. Going to Wigan is going to be tough but I want to go back there and win for our team and the club here because then we’ll be one step closer to the Grand Final.
“We’ve been building our intensity all week similar to what we did against Hull FC and we just want to make sure we’re peaking for Friday night. We’re all looking forward to the challenge because they won the League Leaders’ Shield on the back of a great season but it’s a different competition now and we’re going to go out there very confident that we can beat them.”
Victory on Friday would see Hull Kingston Rovers join Warrington Wolves or Huddersfield Giants as one of the clubs who could be selected by St Helens at the Club Call announcement on Sunday September 19.