Wednesday 15 August 2018 17:45, UK
Hull KR coach Tim Sheens says there will be no excuses for defeat as the Robins prepare to make history by becoming the first Super League club to play a match in Canada.
Sheens' side are the second opponents in the Super 8s Qualifiers for Toronto Wolfpack, who topped the Championship at their first attempt and began their final assault on Super League with a 14-0 win at Halifax last Sunday.
Hull KR will have two days in Toronto to prepare for Saturday's game at Lamport Stadium, which is live on Sky Sports Arena from 7.30pm.
Despite numerous scare stories about players being denied visas to enter the country, Sheens says he is able to take a near full-strength squad to Canada on Thursday.
It is thought Australian stand-off Todd Carney, once denied a work permit to play in Super League for Huddersfield, was one of three players forced to travel to London to make their applications in person to the High Commission.
"Preparations have finally been going well," said Sheens. "We've had some well-documented issues here and there but everybody has their visas sorted and we know our itinerary for the trip.
"The players over here aren't used to making this sort of journey. We go to Catalans and Toulouse but it's not the same, while in Australia teams have to fly over to New Zealand but again the trip isn't as long, nor is the time difference as great.
"Players do get more used to travelling and staying in hotels over there, though, compared with Super League.
"There's been a fair amount of work in getting everything sorted and credit to the people involved for pulling it together.
"We're having a team run over there in Toronto on Friday, not actually at the stadium but at another 4G surface nearby, and we've been given access for a walk over the Wolfpack pitch afterwards so we can start to get a feel for it.
"We'll get a look at it the night before and we've got Craig Hall who's played for Toronto and Ben Crooks who played there earlier this year so there's a couple in the squad with some previous experience.
"I don't think it matters to us about being the first Super League team to go over there or anything like that.
"Maybe afterwards we'll reflect on being a part of that but the focus for us at the moment is just to go there and get the two points."
Hull KR, who began their campaign with a home defeat by Salford, have prop Mose Masoe back from suspension and hooker Tommy Lee has recovered from injury.
Saturday's game will be the first of three Toronto matches covered live over the next month by Sky Sports, who will also show London Broncos' visit to the Lamport Stadium in round three and Toronto's next away game against Salford.
The televised matches in Toronto will not feature a video referee but there will be in-goal touch-judges at either end of the field.
