Hull KR coach Willie Peters saluted match-winner Mikey Lewis and his team of history-makers after their stunning Betfred Super League Grand Final success on Saturday.
Rovers completed a brilliant treble by dethroning Wigan, champions for the previous two years, with an emphatic 24-6 victory at Old Trafford.
It made Rovers only the fifth club to claim the Super League trophy and the first other than Wigan, Leeds or St Helens to have triumphed since 2003.
Half-back Lewis was outstanding, scoring the opening try and creating another after making a decisive intervention to prevent Wigan’s Bevan French opening the scoring.
Peters said: “I just said out there, Mikey Lewis has arrived.
“What I meant by that was in big moments and it doesn’t get bigger than a Grand Final.
“He owned that first half. He does cop a lot but it shows the top player he is and we’ve got.
“He was ready for that and he stood up – I’m so proud of him.”
Leeds were the last first-time winners of Super League in 2004.
Peters said: “There’s a bit of history there. It’s something we’ve wanted to do. A lot of people have worked hard to get us into this position.”
Asked what the next task was, Peters said simply: “Beers!”
Emotional Wigan head coach Matt Peet refused to attribute individual errors for his side’s failure to become only the third team in history to win three consecutive Grand Finals.
The game appeared to hinge on three pivotal moments with Liam Farrell and French both fumbling clear chances in the opening 20 minutes before Brad O’Neill was sin-binned for a tip-tackle on Tyrone May.
Rovers scored their first two tries with the numerical advantage and it was a lead they would never squander despite Harry Smith briefly reducing the deficit to four points early in the second half.
“It’s tempting to look back on a couple of moments and there were things we will look back on and wish we’d done better,” said Peet.
“We didn’t do what we’d love to have done. When it comes to a final it’s the story of the game.
“They took their opportunities better than we did. It’s a fine line between winning and losing on these evenings and I give credit to them.”
Peet insisted the manner of his side’s defeat would not unduly dictate his approach to next year’s campaign as he continued to rely on the same core group to haul them back to the domestic pinnacle that they have owned since 2023.
Peet added: “My feelings for them are not dictated by winning and losing. I know what they are as men and team-mates and I know the way they commit themselves to their work.
“You take the wins and the losses and you keep moving forward and it’s important we handle ourselves, particularly over the next few days.”
