3 days Ago By [email protected] (Matthew Shaw)
Rhyse Martin couldn't hide his disappointment after his first night on kicking tee duties for Hull KR . The back-rower is one of the deadliest goal-kickers in Super League history but things didn't quite go to plan at Craven Park on Friday night. Rovers' new recruit has been tasked with tagging on the extras this season but a difficult first night saw him kick just one goal from four conversions, a record basically unheard of for the Papua New Guinea captain.
There's plenty of context that should be applied. All four conversion attempts were from out wide and it was particularly windy and what is always a blustery Sewell Group Craven Park. That, however, was of no consolation to Martin, who is tasked with fixing up Rovers long-standing goal-kicking issues that have persisted for about five years.
"It was a baptism of fire tonight with every try on the corner flag," Martin told Hull Live. "It's just one of those but I'm pretty disappointed because it isn't my standard and if I get them, we're not going to golden point." The wind factor is always an important one for any goal-kicker and the open nature of Craven Park does add a level of unpredictability for any kicker weighing up their approach.
"It does make things tricky," he said. "It's probably harder going with the wind because it swirls around. You think you've got it assisting you and it just doesn't do anything.
It's hard to read but it's just something I'll have to work hard on and get confident with. "I had one kick that was going straight through and then the wind just caught it and dragged it away. It's one of those things, it may take some time I guess.
I'll keep working hard and hopefully, the boys stop scoring in the corner!" Taking the lessons from Friday night, Martin admitted that he may now look to add more power to his kicks than usual to combat the environmental challenges. "I think I'll have to punch it and kick it as hard as I can, because it's only when the power comes out of the ball that the wind grabs it and pulls it away. "I'll put the ball out on certain points and hang it past that far-right poll and hope the wind grabs it and pulls it in.
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