Grand Final: Batch at his best

Hull KR have been in scintillating form in 2024 - securing their first ever top two finish and booking themselves a place in what will be their maiden Betfred Super League Grand Final.

It was a nail-biting encounter when they hosted Warrington Wolves in their semi-final last Friday, but Willie Peters’ men heroically held out to record a historic win.

And there was one player who impressively stepped up in the semi at Sewell Group Craven Park, with James Batchelor captaining the Robins side in absence of suspended skipper Elliot Minchella.

Batchelor was integral to their victory - producing a mammoth 39 tackles, and kickstarting the Robins’ memorable night with the opening try.

The Robins get the try their early pressure deserved ?@JBatchelor98 goes over for the @hullkrofficial score ?#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/sRTrKJOYo2

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) October 4, 2024

“I had a job to do in the semi-final with Mini [Minchella] not playing. They needed to someone to step up and be a leader and drive us forward to get to the Grand Final, and thankfully we got the job done,” Batchelor said, who has featured 23 times for the Robins in 2024. 

It is Batchelor’s second season in the Red & White after signing from Wakefield Trinity at the back end of 2022. And the 26-year-old admitted that he has had to overcome plenty of challenges and fight his way to the top over the years.

The prospering second rower caught the eye of Hull KR head coach Willie Peters nearly two years ago, and hasn’t looked back since arriving in East Hull:

“I definitely had times where I doubted myself and found it tough and probably couldn’t see myself here.

“But I knew if I kept grafting and waited to see what happened…and as soon as I started speaking to Willie about coming over to Hull KR, he said that these are the games that they were aiming to be involved in - and that they wanted me to be a part of the club moving forward to get to that point.

“Hull KR gave me that belief and as soon as I came to the club, I knew that this was where they were aiming be.”

And Batchelor has nothing but praise for the club and head coach Peters, as they look to make dreams come true on Saturday night:

“Willie has spoken about putting it on us to believe in ourselves and understand how much of a good team we are.

“It’s easy to listen to that outside noise of people not believing that teams outside the big four or five clubs can do much. But if you take a step back and you look at the players that we’ve got, how hard we work and the style that we play, we’ve got a really good team, and we deserve to be here.

“Everyone is always going to have questions and look for things to say, but we’ve always had a clear vision in this group.

“People don’t always see the work we put in behind close doors, the conversations we have, the hard work we’re putting in at training - and how tight we are as a group. We know what we’ve got in that room and we’re going to go out there and deliver.”

Belief and togetherness of the playing group have been huge influences on Hull KR’s success this season, but the incredible talent they have throughout their squad cannot be overlooked.

“The energy we get off is each other is unbelievable. We all help each other out and we’re big on that.

“The semi-final against Warrington showed what we’re about as a team. We’re one the best attacking teams in the competition this year, but it was all about defence in that game.

“All we kept thinking was - we’re not going to fold, we’re going to fight and do whatever it takes to win.

“But we need to be a lot better than that this week especially with the ball and so that we’re getting out of our own end.”

As Hull KR prepare for one of their biggest games in the club's history, Batchelor is raring to go. And the Robins have already proved they can beat Wigan Warriors in 2024 with a terrific 26-10 victory back in Round 9.

The reverse fixture did see the Warriors come from behind in Round 25 and go on to snatch the League Leaders' Shield, but Batchelor insisted his side will be using this narrow loss as nothing but motivation:

“It’ll be one of the games we’ll look at in video, but we need to be better in handling situations.

“They’ll be better than that day and we’ll be better too. It’s all about the game this week.”

The Robins have well and truly earned their place at Old Trafford, but it looks like they won’t fully satisfied unless they complete the job.

Can they overcome the current Champions to become Champions?

Tickets for the Betfred Super League Grand Final are on sale now, but hurry as tickets are selling fast!

Will you be joining us on Saturday 12 October? Tickets start at just £30 for adults, and £15 for juniors - secure your place today at the biggest night in Rugby League!

The Betfred Super League Grand Final will also be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports (K.O. 6pm).