Terry Campese gamble paid off says Hull KR boss James Webster

Hull KR coach James Webster admits the club's decision to hold skipper Terry Campese back for the game at Wakefield paid off after he masterminded a 54-16 victory that keeps alive their Super League top-eight hopes.

Campese only recently completed his recovery from a series of hamstring injuries and was left behind when Rovers flew to Perpignan for last Saturday's match against Catalans Dragons.

The former Canberra stand-off made a big impact on his return as Hull KR ran in 10 tries to deliver a handsome win for Webster against his former club.

"Terry coming back helps us massively," said Webster. "People probably think we were targeting this game but the medical advice was for him to miss that game.

"We decided to take that punt a long time ago. It's a nice victory and it probably proves we made the right decision."

Campese slotted back in effortlessly alongside his half-back Albert Kelly while former London winger Kieran Dixon supplied the finishing touches with a hat-trick of tries on his recall to the side after a six-week absence.

The pacy Dixon, who injured a shoulder while playing on a dual-registration with League 1 club Newcastle Thunder, received a late call-up when youngster Joe Wardill pulled out through illness and seized his opportunity by taking his try tally to eight in his last four appearances against Wakefield.

"Kieran only realised he was going to play at lunchtime today when Joe Wardill cried off so full credit to him," Webster said.

"He played well. There is a lot of facets in his game that other people don't have. He realises has to be as consistent as he was tonight and, if he can be, then he has a big future."

Hull KR's win takes them to within three points of eighth-placed Widnes and Webster believes another four wins from their last six matches can secure a spot in the Super 8s.

It was a miserable reunion for Wakefield coach Chris Chester, who lost his job as head coach of Hull KR after they suffered a surprise 14-12 home defeat to the Wildcats in February - and after overseeing eight wins from his first 10
matches, has now seen them crash to heavy back-to-back defeats.

"We looked a tired team out there," Chester said. "Hull KR were good and they put the game to bed in the first 30 minutes.

"We showed a bit of desire and courage in the second half but we didn't show any patience in the first 10 or 15 minutes, we wanted to score off every play.

"I thought Campese and Kelly controlled the game really well, defensively we couldn't put them under pressure. We kept losing ruck after ruck after ruck."

Already without skipper Danny Kirmond through suspension, Wakefield suffered a blow before the game after prop Anthony England and full-back Max Jowitt pulled out through injury.

"They're key players for us and we struggled with our leadership," Chester said.

"We need to try and freshen up but there's no excuses. That's two poor performances on the bounce but we're still in there fighting.

"We're not too disheartened, we're still looking up rather than looking down at the teams below us."