2025 Hull Kingston Rovers season

Hull Kingston Rovers 2025 season
Team information
Chairman	Neil Hudgell
Head Coach	Willie Peters
Captain	Elliot Minchella
Stadium	Craven Park
Home colours Away colours
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The 2025 season will be Hull Kingston Rovers' ninth consecutive season playing in England's top division of rugby league. They will compete in the 2025 Super League season and the 2025 Challenge Cup.

Preseason friendlies

On 28 May 2024, the club announced that they would face York Knights in the Rugby League Amsterdam Challenge, a pre-season friendly held at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam on 25 January 2025. The match, organised in partnership with the Netherlands Rugby League Bond, aims to develop rugby league in the Netherlands, ^{[1] [2]} and was later confirmed to be the club's only pre-season friendly of 2025. ^[3]

Date and Time	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
25 January; 12:30 (GMT)	York Knights	N	NRCA Stadium	L	12–26	Gorman, Tennison	Richardson (2/2)	2,715	[4]

Super League

Main article: 2025 Super League season

Date and Time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Pos.	Report
14 February; 20:00	Round 1	Castleford Tigers	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
20 February; 20:00	Round 2	Wakefield Trinity	A	Belle Vue		–				Sky Sports
27 February; 20:00	Round 3	Salford Red Devils	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
7 March; 20:00	Round 4	St Helens	A	Totally Wicked Stadium		–				Sky Sports
23 March; 15:00	Round 5	Leigh Leopards	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
30 March; 15:00	Round 6	Huddersfield Giants	A	Kirklees Stadium		–				Sky Sports
11 April; 20:00	Round 7	Wigan Warriors	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
18 April, 12:30 (Good Friday)	Round 8 (Rivals Round)	Hull F.C.	A	MKM Stadium		–				Sky Sports Main Event
25 April, 20:00	Round 9	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley Rugby Stadium		–				Sky Sports
3 May; 16:15	Round 10 (Magic Weekend)	Salford Red Devils	N	St James' Park		–				Sky Sports
17 May; 15:00	Round 11	Huddersfield Giants	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
23 May; 20:00	Round 12	Warrington Wolves	A	Halliwell Jones Stadium		–				Sky Sports
30 May; 20:00	Round 13	St Helens	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
13 June; 20:00	Round 14	Catalans Dragons	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
19 June; 20:00	Round 15	Castleford Tigers	A	The Jungle		–				Sky Sports
27 June; 20:00	Round 16	Wakefield Trinity	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
6 July; 15:00	Round 17	Leeds Rhinos	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
12 July; 15:00	Round 18	Leigh Leopards	A	Leigh Sports Village		–				Sky Sports
19 July; 18:00 (BST)	Round 19	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus		–				Sky Sports
31 July; 20:00	Round 20	Salford Red Devils	A	Salford Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports
9 August; 15:00	Round 21	Castleford Tigers	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
15 August; 20:00	Round 22	Wigan Warriors	A	Brick Community Stadium		–				Sky Sports
21 August; 20:00	Round 23	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley Rugby Stadium		–				Sky Sports
29 August; 20:00	Round 24	St Helens	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
7 September; 15:00	Round 25	Hull F.C.	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports
13 September; 15:00	Round 26	Wakefield Trinity	A	Belle Vue		–				Sky Sports
21 September; 15:00	Round 27	Warrington Wolves	H	Craven Park		–				Sky Sports

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Castleford Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Semi-finals
2	Catalans Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Huddersfield Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Eliminators
4	Hull FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Hull KR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Leeds Rhinos	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Leigh Leopards	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Salford Red Devils	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	St Helens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Wakefield Trinity	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Warrington Wolves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Wigan Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source:

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2025 Challenge Cup

On 25 June 2024, the RFL announced a change to the Challenge Cup format, totalling 7 rounds compared to the previous 9, with Super League teams entering to play away from home at round 3. ^[5]

Hull Kingston Rovers were drawn on 14 January to play either the Keighley Cougars or York RLFC away in Round 3, subject to the result of the Round 2 fixture between the two teams on 26 January. ^[6]

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
7-9 February; TBC	Round 3	Keighley Cougars or York RLFC	A	Cougar Park or York Community Stadium		–

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves	Sydney Roosters	1 Year	February 2024 [7]
Jack Brown	Hull FC	2 Years	May 2024 [8]
Tom Davies	Catalans Dragons	3 Years	June 2024 [9]
Eribe Doro	Bradford Bulls	2 Years	June 2024 [10]
Bill Leyland	London Broncos	2 Years	July 2024 [11]
Michael McIlorum	Catalans Dragons	1 Year	July 2024 [12]
Danny Richardson	Castleford Tigers	2 Years	August 2024 [13]
Rhyse Martin	Leeds Rhinos	2 Years	August 2024 [14]
Lee Kershaw	London Broncos	2 Years	November 2024 [15]
Leon Ruan	Leeds Rhinos	2 Years	December 2024 [16]

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Ryan Hall	Leeds Rhinos	1 Year	April 2024 [17]
Yusuf Aydin	Hull FC	2 Years	May 2024 [8]
Louis Senior	Castleford Tigers	2 Years	May 2024 [18]
Jordan Abdull	Hull FC	3 Years	June 2024 [19]
Ben Reynolds	Featherstone Rovers	2 Years	July 2024 [20]
Matty Storton	Wakefield Trinity	3 Years	August 2024 [21]
Tom Opacic	TBC		August 2024 [22]
Harvey Moore	TBC		September 2024 [23]
George King	Huddersfield Giants	4 Years	October 2024 [24]
Reiss Butterworth	Sheffield Eagles	2 Years	November 2024 [25]
Matt Parcell	N/A	Retirement	November 2024 [26]

Squad

2025 Hull Kingston Rovers Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
1 Niall Evalds – FB 2 Tom Davies – WG 3 Peta Hiku – CE 4 Oliver Gildart – CE 5 Joe Burgess – WG 6 Mikey Lewis – SO [a] 7 Tyrone May – HB 8 Sauaso Sue – PR 9 Jez Litten – HK 10 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves – PR 11 Dean Hadley – HK 12 James Batchelor – SR 13 Elliot Minchella (c) – SR		14 Michael McIlorum – HK 15 Sam Luckley – PR 16 Jai Whitbread – LF 17 Rhyse Martin – SR (gk) 18 Ben Reynolds – HB 19 Danny Richardson – SO 20 Kelepi Tanginoa – PR 21 Jack Brown – LF 22 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga'e – FB 23 Lee Kershaw – WG 24 Eribe Doro – PR 25 Bill Leyland – HK 26 Ajahni Wallace – SR		27 Leon Ruan – LF 28 Zach Fishwick – PR 29 Louix Gorman – CE 30 Leo Tennison – PR 31 Lennie Ellis – HK 32 Connor Barley – CE 33 Harvey Horne – WG 34 Neil Tchamambe – WG				Head coach Willie Peters Assistant coaches David Hodgson Danny Ward Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Injured (gk) = Goal kicker Updated: 20 December 2024 Source(s): Hull KR announce 2025 Squad Numbers, Backroom Staff

Notes

1. Shirt number 6 had originally been retired by the club in 2017 following the death of former player and coach Roger Millward, however it was revived for use by Mikey Lewis in December 2024. ^[27]

References

1. Bower, Aaron (28 May 2024). "Hull KR and York Knights to take historic match to Amsterdam". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
2. Shaw, Matthew (28 May 2024). "Everything we know about Hull KR's Amsterdam Challenge from stadium to travel offers". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
3. Walker, Callum (8 November 2024). "Hull KR confirm unusual pre-season schedule for 2025 Super League season". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
4. Shaw, Matthew (25 January 2025). "Hull KR v York Knights highlights with Amsterdam history made in defeat". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
5. "New format for Betfred Challenge Cup in 2025". Rugby Football League . 25 June 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
6. "Holders Wigan face possible Sheffield tie in cup". BBC Sport. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
7. "Jared Waerea-Hargreaves: Hull KR swoop to sign NRL star and New Zealand international for 2025". Sky Sports News. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
8. Darbyshire, Drew (7 May 2024). "Hull FC and Hull KR forwards in swap deal as pair make permanent moves". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
9. "England winger Davies to join Hull KR from Catalans". BBC Sport. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
10. "Hull KR sign Bradford prop Doro for 2025". BBC Sport. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
11. "Hull KR sign Broncos hooker Leyland". BBC Sport. 15 July 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
12. Shaw, Matthew (18 July 2024). "Hull KR sign Micky McIlorum in one of Super League's all-time unexpected deals". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
13. Walker, Callum (23 August 2024). "Ex-Castleford Tigers halfback secures Super League deal for 2025 and 2026". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
14. Bower, Aaron (19 August 2024). "Hull KR solve overseas quota puzzle as star to be released to allow Rhyse Martin capture". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
15. Darbyshire, Drew (1 November 2024). "Hull KR make eighth signing for 2025 in shape of London Broncos ace". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
16. "Hull KR bring in forward Ruan after Leeds exit". BBC Sport. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
17. Shaw, Aaron (22 April 2024). "Explaining why Leeds Rhinos were able to announce Ryan Hall deal before May 1 deadline". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
18. "Senior twins signs Castleford contracts". BBC Sport. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
19. O'Brien, James (5 June 2024). "Hull FC cross divide to sign Jordan Abdull as half-back's career comes full circle". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
20. Rej, Arindam (8 July 2024). "Hull KR's blunt Ben Reynolds exit message tells tale with departure confirmed". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
21. Rej, Arindam (16 August 2024). "Matty Storton's Hull KR exit confirmed with destination named". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
22. "Hull KR confirm Opacic exit at end of season". BBC Sport. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
23. Darbyshire, Drew (19 September 2024). "Hull KR bid farewell to 11 players as club announces departure list". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
24. Darbyshire, Drew (17 October 2024). "George King completes Super League transfer following Hull KR departure". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
25. Olawumi, Ben (10 November 2024). "Released Hull KR ace makes permanent Championship return for 2025". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
26. Walker, Callum (19 November 2024). "Ex-Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos hooker Matt Parcell confirms next career move following illustrious rugby league spell". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
27. Walker, Callum (13 December 2024). "Hull KR to un-retire Super League club's number 6 shirt as Mikey Lewis given incredible honour". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 13 December 2024.