Hull KR etched their name into the history books on Thursday night but it came at a significant injury cost with two of the club’s standout players facing long lay-offs.
Thursday night’s 30-24 World Club Challenge win over Brisbane Broncos saw Hull KR add a fourth trophy to their growing trophy cabinet with the Robins having finished 2025 as the treble winners.
At one point, it looked as though they might do it with a record score as well given they led 30-4 with 25 minutes to go but three quick-fire tries put the celebrations on halt as Brisbane threatened another amazing comeback.
Ultimately, their clock ran out with Hull KR’s defensive efforts just being enough but looking forward to the defence of their Super League crown, they’ve been dealt two big blows.
Arthur Mourgue left the field before half-time with the full-back suffering a pec injury though the severity of that is unknown. If torn, then the Frenchman could be looking at weeks and possibly months on the sideline.
The other major blow was for Dean Hadley who suffered a suspected fractured eye socket, something that could also rule him out for several weeks.
Amid all the celebrations, Hull KR now have to find a way to navigate the upcoming weeks without two of their key men and we’ve looked at the available options.
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Arthur Mourgue
Mikey Lewis was the stand-in on Thursday night but it’s likely that Jack Broadbent will be the man who takes on the number one role. The utility back was named on the bench in the round one defeat to York Knights, however, he didn’t feature against the Broncos.
Filling in at full-back is nothing new for Broadbent with the centre playing that role last year in the Challenge Cup on account of Mourgue being cup-tied. Other options would include Mikey Lewis, though he likely won’t be shifted from the halves, whilst off-season signing Declan Murphy could be considered.
Dean Hadley
Whilst Jez Litten was a worthy Man of the Match, many, including Litten, pointed to Dean Hadley as the standout in the World Club Challenge win. Hadley made 180 metres, a total only surpassed by Tom Davies (185) for Hull KR, whilst also topping the Robins’ tackle count with 38.
Factor in that he played the final 20 minutes with a suspected fractured eye socket and you come to understand just how and why Hadley is so important, without even mentioning the fact he’s adept at both prop and second-row.
Having started in the second-row, it’s likely that Rhyse Martin is a natural replacement for that role, however, round one saw Jai Whitbread shift to the second row with Jack Brown used as the replacement prop.
With Sauaso Sue and Tom Amone the likely props and James Batchelor locked in as one of the second-row forwards, all of Thursday’s bench of Jai Whitbread, Sam Luckley, Karl Lawton and Rhyse Martin will have to step up.
More interesting is who enters the 17 as a result of that with Jack Brown an option at prop or off-season signing Tom Whitehead an option in the second-row. Further down the line, should Hadley miss an extended period, Jordan Dezaria will be a prop replacement option with the Frenchman currently nursing a hamstring injury.
Hull KR will now travel to Las Vegas to take on Leeds Rhinos with Hadley and Mourgue likely to remain behind and learn the extent of their injuries.
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Colin Baker
February 23, 2026 at 4:53 pm
If Hadley had a fractured eye socket he would be straight into hospital I’ve had one was in hospital for an operation with in two days and one was Sunday it’s just swelling,get your facts right.