Elliot Minchella's assessment as Hull KR star's return from injury picks up pace

Elliot Minchella believes he is steadily recapturing his best form after putting his injury nightmare firmly behind him. The Hull Kingston Rovers vice-captain helped Tony Smith’s men to a 34-18 home win over Warrington Wolves last Friday.

It was another significant step forward for Minchella as he continues to banish the pain and frustration of a serious knee injury which wrecked his 2021 campaign. The loose forward sustained an ACL anterior cruciate ligament injury in Rovers’ second match of last season, a 25-0 defeat by St Helens, but has re-established himself in recent weeks.

Minchella told Rugby League Live: “I’m enjoying my rugby right now and I think I’m getting back to where I was before my injury. Warrington was the sixth game in a row I’d played since coming back and, while there are still areas to improve on, I’m feeling good and playing with confidence.

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“I’m just trying to improve every week but I’ve definitely started to feel a lot more comfortable. Being at loose forward comes with a lot of variety and is about knowing when to run and when to pass to someone else. I enjoy being involved in a lot of what happens on the field, so it works well for me.”

The Robins have made a mixed start to their campaign but, after a convincing win over Warrington, they go into this Friday’s home Challenge Cup quarter-final against Castleford Tigers bubbling with confidence. Former Leeds Rhinos prospect Minchella, 26, added: “With the start we’ve had, I think we’ve had some good weeks and bad weeks.

“We’ve played some good teams and they have probably been better than us in the games we’ve lost. But we’ve won our last two – we beat Leigh in the Cup and then