21 February 2024 , 18:31
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He waved off bruiser Franklin Pele and Hull KR’s Elliot Minchella now hopes to shake off Leeds.
The Rovers skipper takes his side - who today announced the signing of NRL star Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - into action bidding to make it two wins from two at the start of the Betfred Super League.
They opened with a blistering 22-0 victory on a wild night at derby rivals Hull. Minchella was at the centre of it all after getting walloped by giant prop Pele’s crunching tackle.
The Hull debutant followed up with a crazy swinging arm to his head and then started throwing punches in the huge melee that followed. Bringing much amusement to gleeful Rovers fans, Minchella was pictured waving Pele off after his subsequent red card that also later copped the New Zealander a three-game ban. The Robins star hopes for a quieter time when former club Rhinos visit on Thursday.
But recalling the explosive events - Hull finished with 11 men after Ligi Sao also saw red - he told Mirror Sport: “It’s a difficult one. I didn’t know what had gone on! I obviously copped the big hit. And the initial tackle was, fair and square, a fantastic hit.
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"He got me really good and sometimes you’ve just got to wear one. We knew he was going to get somebody at some point as he’s a good player and a big body. Unfortunately, it was me. I didn’t actually know what had gone on on the floor as I was down there and then all of a sudden everyone was running in.
"When I looked up at the ref, he’d stopped the game and I was still wondering. It wasn’t until I watched it on the big screen that I saw the incident. Then… well, it was just a bit of a wave off the field! It’s the derby. It’s all part of it. I’m just happy we got the win. And that we kept them to zero. That was a big thing: our defence.”
Leeds, who defeated Salford 22-16 on Friday, should be tougher even without crocked forwards Mikolaj Oledzki, Tom Holroyd, Morgan Gannon and James McDonnell. Loose forward Minchella, 28, said: “They look dangerous. That new spine of Lachie Miller, Matt Frawley, Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers is quality.
“They’ll cause a lot of teams trouble and beat plenty this year. They definitely have more quality than last season. It will be a really tough game.”
He has taken over the captaincy from retired KR legend Shaun Kenny-Dowall in 2024. Minchella said: “I’m excited to be back playing at home Thursday. I loved last week. With it being round one, there’s always a buzz. But it was extra special being a derby. There was a great atmosphere from both sets of fans.
“Obviously we enjoyed the result and the performance. But now it’s on to Leeds. As well as that spine they have their players like Harry Newman and Ash Handley who scored that great try against Salford. They got a win, too. It was scrappy but they got over the line.
"That’s what good teams do: get over the line when not playing too well. Our attack wasn’t crisp but our ‘d’ was really good and we’ll look to improve again against Leeds.”