Two KR men have dropped out through injury this week
Hull KR head coach Willie Peters after his side’s win over Catalans Dragons(Image: SW Pix)
Willie Peters hopes to be able to welcome Tyrone May back into his Hull KR side in time for next week’s game against Wigan Warriors.
May picked up a knee injury in the win over Catalans Dragons last week and had to be withdrawn from the action against the French side due to the pain. Despite that, he was selected in the halves on Tuesday night and he was visibly playing through pain at times as he struggled to impact the contest in the way he might have wanted.
Ultimately then, in an effort to help him recover, Peters has taken the half-back out of the side this week, with May dropping out alongside the dropped Mikey Lewis and Tevita Pangai Jr.
Unlike Lewis and Pangai Jr, though, who start their respective bans next week, May can be expected to return to action next week, Peters has confirmed.
“He’s had a knee issue that has got the better of him,” the head coach said. “He was hobbling around the majority of that game so we thought it was better to rest him and it gives an opportunity to others.
“I want to see him get that knee right so when he comes back he can be Tyrone May and not be too worried around an injury which is bothering him, you can see it’s bothering him, he can’t play free. It’s best to rest him and get that right.
“Hopefully it’s just a game, it should be. He’s had scans and it’s nothing major but there’s certainly an issue there. He is one that plays through pain and he plays through a fair bit, with a lot of them do especially at this time of the year. It’s something that we’re hoping is going to be one week.”
Jai Whitbread has also dropped out of the fold this week with the forward sustaining an arm problem.
“Jai has a bicep issue,” the head coach added. “I thought he played strong the other day and there’s a couple of areas we want to keep improving on but he’ll be missed this weekend. He has a bicep issue that he needs to get sorted.”
Peters was able to confirm that James Batchelor would return to the fold to take on Toulouse on Saturday night, but he stopped short of confirming Oliver Gildart would be fit enough to feature after missing the last two games with the ankle injury he sustained at Castleford Tigers a fortnight ago.
The centre has been named in the squad but the head coach will make a late call on him.