Sheens critical despite Hull KR victory

Tim Sheens was satisfied to see Hull KR pick up two points against Rochdale on Sunday, but he admitted his team hadn’t reached their usual high standards.

Rovers’ 24-16 victory kept them four points clear of Toulouse and Featherstone at the top of the Championship.

“It was a win, that’s all – I’m not really happy with a number of things that we did,” Sheens told the club’s official website.

“We spoke about our discipline before we went out, but got dragged into the scrap and the off-the-ball stuff.

“It’s impossible for the players to be at their peak in terms of attitude and intensity every week, you always have peaks and troughs, but your skill level has to be good every week. If you execute well, you will usually pick up the points but we didn’t do that today.

“Overall, we did some good things defensively and kept them in their own half on a number of occasions, but we let them off the hook when we had the ball. We lost the ball early in the tackle count three times after receiving a penalty and then we make an 80-metre break on the first tackle and throw a wild pass.

“It’s concentration – individual concentration. Everyone is responsible for their own carry and own tackle. Communication is important too to make sure everyone is on the same path and sometimes we stopped talking, then the defence falls apart.

“We’ve talked about all of this in the dressing room and we’ve got to now get ourselves mentally for Batley and their field.”