The Robin Sings Again by Dan Crowther

Fans of Hull KR believed the Rugby Football League did not want them as part of the sport, a belief reinforced when they lost their right to host an academy for junior players. The final potential enemy Rovers were facing heading into 2021 was themselves. The club had finished bottom of the Super League in their previous season – and in the season before that they had only avoided what would have been a disastrous relegation by the skin of their teeth. Even some of their fiercely loyal fans, who were always the lifeblood of the club, had begun to question the direction in which they were moving, due to their consistent underachievement. The all-too-familiar feeling of disappointment was chipping away and at the height of such trying times, Hull KR needed their fans more than ever. In order to keep them onside and engaged, they needed to start to produce on the field – even if their hands were tied by budget constraints and a-once-in-a-generation global pandemic. Indeed, times were tough. The potential messiah for Hull KR, returning chief executive Paul Lakin, had described the times as ‘choppy waters’. Join author Dan Crowther as he surfs on those choppy waters by dissecting Hull KR’s 2021 season in full detail. From first-team games, a controversial rebrand, other off-field incidents and news, general analysis to the feelings of the supporters that helped keep Hull KR alive and much more – all in chronological order. The Robin Sings Again is a compelling account of how one of British rugby league’s most legendary clubs lived to fight another day and came just 80 minutes shy of a monumental grand final appearance.