Hull KR head coach Willie Peters has confirmed one player will undergo an operation and miss the next 12 weeks whilst questioning the type of tackle that led to the injury.
The Robins lost 28-10 to Leigh Leopards on Saturday in their second consecutive defeat and things never truly got going. Having lost Mikey Lewis in the first half to Leeds a week prior, Danny Richardson was named as his replacement but he also suffered a first-half injury.
It’s now been confirmed by Peters that is set to be a 12-week injury with the playmaker needing to undergo an operation and the Hull KR boss also asked questions of the tackle which led to Richardson’s injury.
Asked how the half-back was, Peters responded: “No, not good. He’s going to need an operation there.
“He wanted to battle on and it’s brave of him because he did have some fractures in there so it’s a credit that he didn’t want to battle on but we had to get him off.”
Peters then explained: “I just want to get a bit of clarification around the tackle. Obviously, he’s come down on his legs. Is that a hanger tackle? For me, it looked very likely of one because the player’s injured his ankle and that’s what we’re trying to take away.
“I just want to get a bit of clarification around what the reason is there. For me, we’ve lost a player for 12 weeks. It was just unfortunate, obviously, that injury.”
Hull KR coach confirms Oliver Gildart return timeline
Whilst the Robins will be without Richardson, Mikey Lewis is set to return and Peters welcomed that, especially in light of the fact hooker Jez Litten will miss out after failing a HIA but also being banned.
The ban means little in some ways given that Litten was going to miss the game anyway due to the HIA, something which caused confusion at the time. Post-match Willie Peters had indicated there might be questions of what had happened and when asked if he was surprised the Match Review Panel didn’t punish any Leigh player, he confirmed he wasn’t happy.
Peters said: “They’ve made their decision. I look at Jez and I saw Jez after the game. I saw what his face looked like. I got feedback from Jez and then I watched it myself.
“I won’t go too much into it. They’ve made their decision, but I wasn’t happy.”
As for the return of Lewis, he explained that the Man of Steel would give them “energy and X-factor” when heading to Perpignan to face Catalans Dragons.
Peters also confirmed Rhyse Martin will be available for selection after being omitted last week on selection, explaining this week that the Papua New Guinean will benefit for the rest and knows what’s asked of him to perform.
In a final injury update, he revealed that centre Oliver Gildart has a return date in mind with Round 26 the target.
The Hull KR boss said: “He’s on track. We’re looking at the Wakefield game so he’s still a while off but his rehab’s going well. He’s in good spirits, he’s bouncing around, which is good. When he bounces around we know that he’s happy. So yeah, he’s in a decent spot.”
