Hull KR man to see specialist as Willie Peters explains injury timeline

Hull KR will be without one of their senior players this week and beyond but the timeline is unclear, as Willie Peters revealed.

Vice-captain James Batchelor brought up his 150th Super League appearance last week in the win over Castleford Tigers, however, he won’t feature against his former club Wakefield on Friday night.

That’s because the second-rower is set to see a specialist regarding a throat injury he sustained in last Thursday’s 48-0 win, with Peters confirming the recovery timeline to be ‘grey’.

Asked about the player’s impact at Craven Park having brought up his milestone game last week, Peters confirmed: “Unfortunately, Batch, won’t play this week. He hurt his throat last week so he needs to go to a specialist tomorrow just to see how long he’ll be out for.

Asked further by Serious About Rugby League about the timescale and nature of the injury, Peters revealed: “There will be some time, but the time frame is a bit grey at the moment.

“It’s two weeks, could be two, could be up to six weeks. I’m thinking it’s going to be less than six weeks, hopefully two or three possibly.”

James Batchelor to see specialist over throat issue

Rovers will be led by the specialists, who Batchelor will see on Wednesday, with further details promised on the back of that meeting.

“We need to get the experts to tell us what it is. Once he’s gone to the specialist, I’ll be able to give you exact details,” Peters stated.

As for how it happened, he said: “He just got knocked to the throat so there’s an injury there and, as I say, we just need to make sure that we know how to treat it, but exactly what it is and in the time frame to treat it.”

He’d earlier praised the influence of Batchelor having been asked about the 150th Super League game milestone which the second-rower smashed through last week.

Paying tribute, Peters said: “He’s a player that we got over when I first came over. He came over the same time and as soon as I saw him train and saw his work ethic and how hard he competes, I knew that we needed to keep him long term, which we did.

“He’s a really, really important part to our team. He’s part of our leadership group. He’s our vice captain and the players love playing with him.”

Hull KR lose winger for nine months as other injuries assessed

Hull KR had confirmed earlier in the day that winger Lee Kershaw had suffered an ACL injury which would rule him out for nine months, with Peters having previously noted that the training ground blow could have been a shorter recovery.

Sadly that isn’t the case, and speaking about Kershaw, Peters said: “It’s going to be at least nine months. He’s done his ACL, which is really unfortunate for Kersh. Obviously what goes with that is not only not being out, but it can mentally affect some players so it’s really important now that he has his operation and we want to give him some time.

“If he wants to go away, I think it’s important that he clears his head and then starts his recovery and prehab after that. It’s going to be a tough few months or a couple of months ahead, but he’s certainly got a lot of support from his teammates and the club.

“He’s a great fellow and he’ll bounce back. He’s had these injuries before.”

There were also updates on senior pair Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Micky McIlorum, who both played through injuries in the Challenge Cup Final.

Asked about the front-row pair, Peters confirmed: “Hopefully both in the next couple of weeks, possibly for next week.”

He also revealed that Joe Burgess is in contention to return but that he needs to pass some final checks in order for that to be confirmed.

Hull KR confirm Lee Kershaw has sustained an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injury which will see him miss the remainder of the 2025 season.

We are fully behind you, Lee! pic.twitter.com/11FNPOSIEu

— Hull KR (@hullkrofficial) June 24, 2025