Willie Peters drops Hull KR selection hint as George Williams admission made

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters has revealed a key selection call ahead of his side’s Challenge Cup Final with Warrington Wolves, whilst also explaining that he’s not buying into the ‘theatre’ of injury speculation for the Wire.

There had been questions over George Williams’ fitness for the game and the Wire skipper declared himself fit to play in the final at yesterday’s media event. It means he will return just seven weeks and two days after he had surgery on his ankle, however, Willie Peters has claimed that the Warrington captain was always set to play.

“He was always going to play,” Peters said when asked about Williams’ declaration, adding: “Once we knew that we were playing Warrington, it was always going to be George playing so that was easy in terms of us preparing for George but stopping him is different.”

The Hull KR coach also declared that he expects centre Toby King to be available as well before commenting on his own centres, a position where he will have to make a change from Super League.

With Arthur Mourgue cup-tied, utility back Jack Broadbent will move to full-back leaving a hole at centre and Peters was asked about James Batchelor being ‘thrown out of position’ to cover the role, as he has done previously this year.

Peters confirmed: “Yeah, he does the job all the time for us so I can’t see why he can’t do the job again.

“Wherever you put Batch, he’s going to give his all-out effort and compete hard and that’s all we want from our players. He’ll do that again this week.”

Hull KR “expecting the best Warrington” as Willie Peters rubbishes injury talk

That strong hint that Batchelor will play in the centres effectively confirms the Hull KR side with little else to really be determined, bar the fourth bench spot and whether Micky McIlorum can actually play.

Peters revealed that the veteran hooker will be named despite being just eight weeks into recovery from a ruptured bicep, something which typically takes 12 weeks to get over.

If McIlorum plays then he could be targeted and Peters was asked about the prospect of targeting George Williams if the Warrington skipper does return, as expected.

“I think with halves you’re always going to get traffic thrown at you,” Peters responded.

“Sneyd’s on the other side, obviously he’s had his issues with his (eye socket) but they’ll be throwing traffic at our halves. It’s not just because George hasn’t played. It’s basically when you’re a half, you’re going to get traffic coming at you.”

The Hull KR boss then pointed to the ‘will they, won’t they’ talk around whether Warrington’s stars would play, labelling it as potentially a “bit of theatre” as he confirmed that the Robins are “expecting the best Warrington”.

He argued: “I mean, I know there’s been talk around injuries and this and that. I think a fair bit could be a bit of theatre around it and a bit of, ‘are they going to play, are they not going to play’. We’re expecting the best version of Warrington, no doubt about that.

“When you’ve got George Williams, you’ve got Dufty, obviously Sneyd controlling things. They’re three very key players to have in your spine. They’re three guaranteed players that will be playing this week. So we don’t have to worry too much outside of that. We know what we’re going to have with those three players alone. But we’ve got some handy players as well that they’ve got to stop.”

Challenge Cup Final media duties are underway for our Robins 🎥🎙️#UpTheRobins 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/zCfIsWedlN

— Hull KR (@hullkrofficial) June 2, 2025