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Play-off anguish will serve Hull KR well in Challenge Cup semi-final

Tony Smith believes his young Hull Kingston Rovers squad needed to experience a semi-final defeat last season to stand them in good stead to go one step further this weekend. The Robins are one win away from a return to the Challenge Cup final later this month, with Huddersfield Giants standing in their way on Saturday afternoon at Elland Road.

It is a matter of mere months since Rovers were within 80 minutes of a major final after their incredible run to last season's Super League play-off semi-finals. On that occasion, they ultimately came unstuck against Catalans Dragons in Perpignan, however.

But Smith says that his squad, many of whom are playing in a Challenge Cup semi-final for the first time this weekend, are now better equipped to handle the occasion on Saturday for the pain they went through last year in the league.

: The highs and lows of Hull KR's past decade in the Challenge Cup

"We've got some good veterans in our teams that have been in big games and won them and that's great, but there's some young players in the team who needed to experience a defeat before they experienced a win," he said.

"I'm hoping that because they tasted that last year, they don't want to taste it again. There's another team in this too don't forget though, so no matter how motivated we are and how much progress we want to make, there's another team who wants to do the same.

"We've learned from last year that if you don't play well against good teams at this stage of a competition, you get beat and it's all over. Semi-finals in the Super League are like a cup game, you've got to perform on the day. Whilst it wasn't a nice lesson to learn, it was a good lesson. They're lessons that make you think about things, and it

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