Hull KR head coach Willie Peters has aired concerns over the fitness of Tyrone May after the half was left ‘hobbling’ late on in the loss to Warrington Wolves, whilst he’s also clarified why a key forward missed out.
The Robins saw their hopes of finishing in the top four dented as they lost 34-28 to Warrington though 12 of KR’s points came in the dying minutes then the game was already lost, with one try coming after a Tyrone May kick.
May had been a doubt going into the game but he’d play the full 80, however, he was moving very gingerly late on and when speaking post-match to BBC Radio Humberside, Peters defended the call to play the Man of Steel contender as he issued an update.
“No, well, he said he was okay, so I’ll have to have a look at that now for Saturday,” Peters said.
“He seemed to be hobbling and it’s something that we’ll need to look at.”
May’s selection was significant but more was the fact that James Batchelor did not play. Explaining why, Peters said: “He’s got a tight hamstring. It was something that we didn’t want to [risk]. We just wanted to make sure because if he played, there was a little bit of risk involved.
“We just thought, rest him in this. We didn’t want to risk him.”
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Limited minutes explained as Saturday plans revealed
There was also clarity offered on why Sauaso Sue, fresh off a rest for a foot injury, played only 15 minutes as Peters explained: “He probably seemed a little bit more tired than usual so we bought him off.
“We’ve got another game on Saturday and I just thought that from his first stint, it just seemed like he was doing it tough.”
Rhyse Martin was another who did not return after his first stint with Peters noting that Jai Whitbread performed well, whilst Tevita Pangai Jr was bringing energy that meant a change couldn’t be done to reintroduce Martin.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s came at home to Toulouse, Peters admitted: “We need to have a look and see what we do. We’ll talk about that. The coaches will pick their team tomorrow.
“We had an idea of what we were sort of thinking but you just don’t know with players now how they pull up. It’s obviously a game that we need to win this week so we need to make sure that we’ve got a team to go out there with high energy and make sure that we get a result.”
Hull KR still aiming for home play-off despite blow
Whilst a win would have put Hull KR in third and in the driving seat for a home play-off game, defeat leaves them sat fifth and Peters is under no illusions that his side must be better if they’re to play post-season rugby at Craven Park.
“We’ve got to improve from tonight,” he said.
“We need to make sure that we understand the areas that we weren’t great at tonight and the moments that we missed, get those right.
“Against the better teams, if we keep delivering that in terms of moments, then you’re not going to go too far in the semis and obviously St Helens won last week, so they’re probably confident as well.
“We’ve got some work to do but the main thing now is just the players to recover.”
