Vice-captain James Batchelor says Hull KR have unfinished business - but he faces a battle just to get in the team. The hard-running second-row has been one of the Robins’ stand-out players in recent years.

He helped them reach their first-ever Grand Final last term having also played at Wembley the campaign before. But Rovers missed out on both the Super League and Challenge Cup trophies and that’s something they aim to address in 2025.

Batchelor, 26, said: “We fell short last year and we have unfinished business. We need to be better if we do want to win trophies and that’s the definite aim. We see ourselves doing that this year.

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“We know it will be tough. The players who moved on were good quality players. I think every person who left, at the time we were questioning why we’re letting them go.

“But then you see the type of players we’ve brought in and it does make it a little bit easier to digest for the fans. The training intensity has definitely gone up and how competitive the two teams are going at each other in training.”

Among the biggest departures are Super League’s greatest tryscorer Ryan Hall returning to Leeds and Aussie hooker Matt Parcell heading home. But head coach Willie Peters brought in legendary Kiwi prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, England hooker Michael McIllorum and Catalans winger Tom Davies.

He has also added another top-class second-row in Papua New Guinea captain Rhyse Martin from Leeds. That means with Batchelor, Kelepi Tanginoa and Dean Hadley, Peters has four quality players jostling for just two spots in that position.

Batchelor, who recently signed a new five-year deal, admitted: “If you look at Kelepi, Deano and Rhyse, they’d probably be in most - if not all - other teams’ starting line-up and probably one of the first names on the teamsheet. “We’ve got to be on it every day of the week and when it comes to matches.

“If not, we all bring something to the table and it offers Willie the chance to change things. He’ll be able to give us a rest, too, but I don’t think any of us will want weeks off as there’d be no guarantee of getting back in knowing the quality around.”

Rovers start their campaign against Castleford on February 14 and have recently returned from a warm-weather training camp in Tenerife.

Batchelor admitted: “Most people think we go for a holiday but it’s anything but that. The training sessions are horrible. But you can get your head around it when it’s 25 degrees and we’re looking at photos back home of black ice.

“The last couple of years, the day we set off it’s dropped below freezing here - and when we’ve got back it’s got positive again so I don’t think my missus is too happy!”

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