Injury worries for Rovers

New signing Shannon McDonnell scored two tries and Rhys Lovegrove also touched down twice as Rovers gained the early bragging rights.

David Hodgson, Kris Welham and Craig Hall also touched down for the visitors, who trailed early on but fought back to hold a 16-6 lead at the break.

However, with the new Super League season fast approaching, new coach Craig Sandercock saw three players pick up injuries.

New captain Ben Galea, forward Richard Beaumont and hooker Josh Hodgson were all hurt in the match, with only the latter like to recover in time for the trip to face reigning champions Leeds on February 3.

Serious

"It does look like Rich has broken his fibula which is pretty serious," Sandercock told the club's official website. "It's yet to be confirmed but those are the initial thoughts and he's off to the hospital at the moment.

"Benny has done his medial so again, that's another pretty serious one. We're not quite sure what grade it is yet. We think it's possibly a grade two, which would mean that he'd be sidelined for least a month.

"Unfortunately, he won't make round one for us and it's obviously a big blow to lose your captain.

"As for Josh, he's strained his ankle but hopefully with a bit of luck he'll be okay for the Leeds game. It will probably be touch and go though."

The Robins are already without Blake Green; the stand-off is currently recovering from a blood clot in his calf and might not play at all in 2012.

As for Hull, new skipper Andy Lynch, one of eight close-season signings making their first appearances, had given his team the lead with a try inside two minutes.

Tony Martin and youngster Chris Green also touched down for the hosts, though it wasn't enough to give new coach Peter Gentle a victory in his first game in charge.

Wildcats, Bulls win

In other friendly action on Sunday, Wakefield got the better of neighbours Castleford by a 40-20 scoreline, Danny Washbrook bagging a brace of tries.

The Bradford Bulls recorded a comfortable 42-16 win over the Dewsbury Rams thanks to a fine all-round performance from Luke Gale.

The stand-off scored two tries and kicked all seven of his attempts at goal to finish with a personal haul of 20 points. Fellow debutant Adrian Purtell also crossed, while crucially the Bulls reported no injury concerns after the fixture.