Hall relishing KR challenge
13th of December 2012
2013 will be Craig Hall’s third year with the Robins and his seventh season as a professional rugby league player.
Since signing for the club he supported as a boy, from cross-city rivals Hull FC, Hall has played a pivotal role in a number of positions. His versatility has become a valuable asset for the Rovers and he believes the experience gained, has helped him mature as a player.
Hall made 21 appearances last season, which was eight more than his first year with the red and whites. Due to Blake Green’s lengthy absence, he filled in at stand-off on many occasions and also showed his try scoring prowess when playing on the edges, scoring 12 tries.
As the players’ step up their preparations for the 2013 campaign, Hall is thriving on being a senior member of the squad.
He said: “Last year was a big step up for me in the fact that I played in a number of positions, including the really important ones, and I feel better as a player for the experience.
“This will be my seventh pre-season as a professional and it is probably the hardest one yet. It has been a while since I started out and I feel confident to get involved in the leadership side of things. We have a young squad this year and I see a lot of myself in the players just like when I was first starting out.
“I like to offer the advice that was given to me back-in-the-day, which helped me do the right things. Also becoming a father has made me mature more and look at things differently. It’s important that you are there for your teammates and can bounce things off each other, you will only improve by doing so.”
On Saturday the squad will travel to Tenerife for their warm weather training camp for the second year running. It will be a chance for the players to get some training done with the ball in hand, in dry conditions. With temperature highs of 80 degrees, it will be a welcome change from the English winter, but as Hall explains, it will be far from a holiday either.
“Yes, it’s a chance to get some skills work done, in dry conditions, but as we found out last year there will be no let up on the fitness aspects,” he added. “The first day we got absolutely flogged - Paul Hatton really put us through our paces. It’s none stop. When you’re not doing the hard stuff you’re doing skills but that’s what is great about these camps, you can get so much in.
“When we do have some down time, it’s a chance for the squad to get to know each other. The team bonding is important too and with the new faces in the squad, it’s a chance for us to make new friendships and gel as a team.
“It all bodes well for the two friendly fixtures in the new year, which are a great indication as to where you are at. Of course, the derby sticks out and the fans will be treating it as game one. For us, yes, you want to do well and win it, but the season ahead is more important and at the moment we are preparing the best we can for that.”
Since signing for the club he supported as a boy, from cross-city rivals Hull FC, Hall has played a pivotal role in a number of positions. His versatility has become a valuable asset for the Rovers and he believes the experience gained, has helped him mature as a player.
Hall made 21 appearances last season, which was eight more than his first year with the red and whites. Due to Blake Green’s lengthy absence, he filled in at stand-off on many occasions and also showed his try scoring prowess when playing on the edges, scoring 12 tries.
As the players’ step up their preparations for the 2013 campaign, Hall is thriving on being a senior member of the squad.
He said: “Last year was a big step up for me in the fact that I played in a number of positions, including the really important ones, and I feel better as a player for the experience.
“This will be my seventh pre-season as a professional and it is probably the hardest one yet. It has been a while since I started out and I feel confident to get involved in the leadership side of things. We have a young squad this year and I see a lot of myself in the players just like when I was first starting out.
“I like to offer the advice that was given to me back-in-the-day, which helped me do the right things. Also becoming a father has made me mature more and look at things differently. It’s important that you are there for your teammates and can bounce things off each other, you will only improve by doing so.”
On Saturday the squad will travel to Tenerife for their warm weather training camp for the second year running. It will be a chance for the players to get some training done with the ball in hand, in dry conditions. With temperature highs of 80 degrees, it will be a welcome change from the English winter, but as Hall explains, it will be far from a holiday either.
“Yes, it’s a chance to get some skills work done, in dry conditions, but as we found out last year there will be no let up on the fitness aspects,” he added. “The first day we got absolutely flogged - Paul Hatton really put us through our paces. It’s none stop. When you’re not doing the hard stuff you’re doing skills but that’s what is great about these camps, you can get so much in.
“When we do have some down time, it’s a chance for the squad to get to know each other. The team bonding is important too and with the new faces in the squad, it’s a chance for us to make new friendships and gel as a team.
“It all bodes well for the two friendly fixtures in the new year, which are a great indication as to where you are at. Of course, the derby sticks out and the fans will be treating it as game one. For us, yes, you want to do well and win it, but the season ahead is more important and at the moment we are preparing the best we can for that.”
