Hull KR star Arthur Mourgue’s torrid luck continues, with the full-back set for a third major lay-off this season.
A pectoral injury in the World Club Challenge win over Brisbane Broncos saw him miss three months of action, before an issue in his return game against Leigh Leopards cost him another eight weeks on the sidelines.
He returned to the side at full-back in the defeat to Warrington Wolves just under a fortnight ago, before he switched to half-back in the absence of Mikey Lewis for the Hull derby.
However, a broken thumb in the win over Hull FC has seen him sent for scans, and the club now need to decide whether to put Mourgue through surgery, which would be an even longer lay-off.
Robins boss Willie Peters confirmed the news to the press today, and was confident that the Frenchman’s season wasn’t over, but did feel for him after yet another blow.
He said: “My understanding is that it’s another five or six weeks.
“I don’t have all the information yet because we’ve got another scan, which will tell us whether he needs surgery or not. That then determines how long he’ll be out for.
“…He’s had such an unlucky season this season. Just talking to him before, minimal injuries, in his time over in France. Then obviously here, he’s put a lot of games together.
“This year has just been unfortunate. There’s injuries that you can help, but certainly with his injuries, it’s just been unlucky. It’s unfortunately the part of the game we all don’t like.
“I never like seeing players get injured, especially guys that go back-to-back with injuries and stuff like that.
“It’s not a good time for Arthur at the moment, but he’s a great kid, and he’s a great person. He’ll be okay.”
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Hull KR boss confirms halves pairing amid Mikey Lewis suspension and Arthur Mourgue injury
As a result of the injury, it means that star half-back Tyrone May will have a third halves partner in as many weeks, with Lewis still serving his four-match suspension.
Peters has revealed that it will be Ryan Hampshire that partners the mercurial number seven, with youngster Jack Charles overlooked yet again.
Explaining the call, Peters said: “The way we play, as I mentioned last week, we play with two full-backs.
“Basically, when Mikey’s playing, we play Tyrone on the ball and then we play Mikey and Arthur, who is usually our first choice [full-back]. When Broady [Jack Broadbent] comes in, he plays that full-back role.
“We had Arthur [in the halves] last week, so again, it’s two full-backs. This week, we’re going to go with Ryan Hampshire.
“If it was Tyrone [injured], then we’d certainly be probably leaning towards Jack Charles. The way that we play, we think Ryan’s the best suited for that role because, as I say, Tyrone’s that on-the-ball half and him, Jack and the way we play, it’s probably too similar.
“It’s a decision that we had to look into. We think, just the way we play, it’s probably the easiest transition.”
