Leagues were again suspended during World War II. When the league resumed in 1945 Rovers finished 18th out of 27. Between 1947 and 1957, Rovers finished between 17th and 29th in the league. In 1958 the club started improving, finishing 18th out of 30. In 1959/60 the club finished 13th out of 30, the first time the club had finished in the top half of the table since 1930/31.
In 1961/62, the club won 17 successive matches and finished 8th out of 30. In 1962, the league was split into East and West of the Pennines; Huddersfield and Hull Kingston Rovers met at Headingley, Leeds in the first final of the Eastern Division Championship on Saturday 10 November 1962.
Reigning Champions Huddersfield were favourites to lift the Eastern Division title, especially as Rovers were missing five first choice players with injuries. The Robins, however, set the early pace and were 10-0 up after 30 minutes. Despite a rally by Huddersfield, Rovers hung on to win 13-10. Rovers win was their first trophy for more than 30 years, they achieved this without losing a match. In 1962/63 as two division rugby returned, they finished the season tenth out of sixteen in Division 1.
In 1963/64, Rovers reached the Challenge Cup final at Wembley for the first time, losing 5-13 to Widnes in front of 84,488 fans. The defeat, due partly to losing legendary Great Britain forward John Taylor to a controversial earlier supension, and to Widnes’s shrewd “Mastermind” tactical plan, which smothered speedy Rovers’ backs such as “The Cornish Express” Graham Paul, was an omen of the “Big Time” to come for Hull KR, as superbly demonstrated by the one time Widnes' cover was beaten by Rovers’ international stand-off half Alan Burwell, who ran from his own half for a fine individual try. It was not long before Rovers were beating the likes of Wigan and St Helens.
A return to Division One rugby was made in 1964/65 when Rovers finished 8th out of 30. In 1965/66 Rovers finished 12th out of 30. Rovers finished second in 1966/67, their highest place for over 40 years and the Yorkshire Cup was won with a 25-12 victory over Featherstone Rovers.
The club bought Roger Millward from Castleford on August 8, 1966 for the sum of £6,000. Rovers won the Mackeson Trophy for being the top points scorers in the Rugby League. Rovers won the Yorkshire Cup for the second year running in 1967/68 beating Hull 8-7 in the final. The club finished third in the league and lost 10-17 to Wakefield in the play-off final, Rovers were runners-up in the Yorkshire League and beat the Australians 27-15 with Millward scoring a hat-trick.
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