Man of Steel nominee Jordan Abdull hailed after steering Hull KR into semi-finals

Correspondent

Kane Linnett, Jordan Abdull and Shaun Kenny-Dowall of Hull KR celebrate the win

Man of Steel nominee Jordan Abdull was hailed by Hull KR coach Tony Smith after a masterful display in their 19-0 win at Warrington.

Hull KR defied the absence of nine senior players to condemn the Wolves to a third successive home play-off defeat.

The hero was former Hull and London Broncos half-back Abdull, who underlined his Man of Steel credentials with a masterful display, capped by a try, three goals and a drop-goal.

Smith said: “He ran the show. This has been coming for him. He’s had some really strong performances over the years but they’re coming regularly for him.

“That’s what Man of Steel is about, doing it consistently. Jordan’s getting more confidence about him and more wisdom as he matures.”

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Smith described the victory as “enormous” for the club after his side produced one of the biggest upsets in Super League play-off history.The landmark victory takes the Robins to within 80 minutes of a maiden Grand Final, just 12 months after they finished the 2020 season with the wooden spoon.

Their reward is a semi-final against League Leaders’ Shield winners Catalans Dragons in Perpignan next Thursday which guarantees a new Grand Finalist.

Smith said: “It’s fantastic. We’ve been trying to break into that.

“It’s enormous for our club. Probably not many people gave us much of a chance.

“I’m really pleased for the owner, it’s been a long time between drinks.

“I like the attitude of my guys, they pulled together for each other.

“We had a great build-up despite being flat last week and to come here and find enough energy to win the game makes me really proud.”

Out-enthused the opponents

Rovers led 6-0 at half-time thanks to a try from Jordan Abdull while his half-back partner Mikey Lewis added a solo effort early in the second half and winger Jimmy Keinhorst clinched it with a third try 13 minutes from the end.

Mikey Lewis got on the scoresheet for Hull KR

Smith added: “It was a messy old game. But we rode through it a little better than them and we grew as we got further into it.

“We were able to pretty much handle anything that was thrown at us. I’m really proud of their last-ditch defence to come up with some of the try-savers that we did.

“I thought it was awesome. It showed how much pride they have in their defence. To do it against a team with so many stars was fairly remarkable really.

“Last week we got out-enthused but we managed to out-enthuse our opposition today. We’ve got to find it again on Thursday.”