Hull KR will have two youngsters making their first Super League appearances of the season this week against Toulouse.
Both Louix Gorman and Jack Charles will get a first-team opportunity against the French side, with boss Willie Peters confirming their inclusion in today’s press conference.
The news came after Peters wanted to put a more positive spin on the interview, after a number of questions regarding the bans for Mikey Lewis and Tevita Pangai Jr.
Batting off any further questions about suspensions, the boss explained: “I’ve answered respectfully more than I came here to do, and it’s important that I tell the fans or speak to the fans in terms of what we’re doing and why we’re making decisions, and I’ve done that.
“I want to focus on this week, and I’ll be able to give you some positive information that we’re going to be playing a couple of our younger guys this week, Jack Charles and Louix Gorman, s0 that’s what I want to talk about.”
“…We‘re going to reward two guys that have trained really hard, worked their way through the grades, Louix with us and obviously Jack coming over this year [from Hull FC].
“I spoke when I first got here around not just handing a jersey out, they’ve got to earn it, and these two have earned it. They’re on the field, they’re last off the field. What they put into their game tells me they’re going to be long-term players of this club, and they’re going to get rewarded by being in the 17. We’ll just have to see what game time looks like but they’ll certainly feature.”
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Asked what roles both will have, Peters said that Charles will be the starting line-up from the off, whilst Gorman’s role is a bit more complicated.
“We’re not 100% sure yet [where he will play], but I think he’s a centre,” Peters said. “He can certainly play on the wing, he can play full-back. We’ll just have to have a look at how the game is unfolding, but I think at the moment his best position is centre, although he can play a few different positions.”
With Lewis out, it could be that Arthur Mourgue plays alongside Charles in the halves, Jack Broadbent goes to full-back and Gorman slots in on the edge alongside Joe Burgess. Ryan Hampshire is also an option.
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Hull KR injury update as boss reveals Tyrone May blow
With both Charles and Gorman set for inclusions, it means some players have to miss out, and one of those men is Tyrone May, who managed to play the full 80 against Warrington on Tuesday, but was visibly struggling throughout.
As a result, May was sent for scans, and a week off will help him full recover, Peters hopes.
“I want to see him get that knee right so he comes back and he can be Tyrone May and not be too worried around an injury, which is bothering him. You can see it is bothering him in games, and he can’t play free, so it’s best to rest him and get that right.”
In terms of a lay-off timeline, the boss said: “Hopefully it’s just a game, it should be. He’s had scans, so it’s nothing major, but there’s certainly an issue there.
“He’s one that plays through pain, and he played through a fair bit, which the majority of them do. Especially this time of the year, everyone’s carrying something, but his is a little bit more than just a bit of pain. It’s something that we hope is just going to be one week.”
Commenting on other players in the squad, the other big issue for the Robins is Jai Whitbread, who suffered a bicep problem in Tuesday’s defeat to Warrington.
“I thought Jai played strong the other day,” Peters said. “There’s still a couple of areas we want to keep improving on with his game, but I thought his intent was there, so he’ll be missed this weekend. He’s got a bicep issue that he needs to get sorted.”
Back rower James Batchelor will return to the side, whilst the coaching staff still need to make a decision on Oliver Gildart, who has missed the last two and a half games through injury.
