Mourgue hasn’t played since February due to injury
Hull KR coach Willie Peters in the press conference after his side’s victory over Warrington.
Arthur Mourgue was close to being involved for Hull KR on Sunday, but Willie Peters decided against rushing him back.
Mourgue has been sidelined since February after suffering a pectoral injury in the win over Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Challenge.
The Frenchman went under the knife in the days that followed that game and ultimately, he has spent the last three months going through a rehabilitation process to get himself back fit.
The full-back has now come to the end of that process and he was given the green light to train with his teammates last week.
Peters revealed as much in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, leading into the clash with Warrington Wolves at the Eco-Power Stadium in Doncaster, with the head coach admitting Mourgue was in contention.
However, he was ultimately saved for another day by Peters on Sunday, with Jack Broadbent given the nod to feature in the Challenge Cup semi-final.
“He’s due back next week,” Peters said when asked about his decision on Mourgue. “He trained this week and he actually looked really sharp.
“Jack’s been great for us and we felt that we didn’t need to rush that.
“Selection headaches are what you want and we’ve got selection headaches at the moment. We’re a team, we’re a squad and there’s a number of guys that aren’t playing that help prepare these guys.
“But, Arthur, yeah, he was close.”
All being well then, Mourgue will be ready to return to action next week against Leigh Leopards, but whether he plays or not is another matter, particularly with Broadbent performing so well recently.
“I’ll do my normal process and ask staff and coaches what they think and I ultimately make the final decision if I need to,” he added.
“Usually we’re on the same page but it’s going to be a difficult one, that’s for sure.
“It’s what you want but you don’t want to disappoint players when you know they could be in the final. We’ll just wait and see.”