Hull KR suffer fresh double blow with Jordan Abdull facing fight to play again in 2023

The 27-year-old, who saw his 2022 campaign cut short in May due to a quad injury, has played just nine times this year.

Abdull made his comeback from a fresh quad problem against Catalans Dragons last week, only to sustain a hamstring injury that will see him spend another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

The loss of Abdull is offset by the return of Rowan Milnes following his recovery from a broken hand.

Rovers boss Willie Peters has dipped into the loan market this week to sign Catalans full-back Tanguy Zenon in the absence of Lachlan Coote, Ethan Ryan and Jack Walker.

"We need to get more tests done but it'll be a minimum of 12 weeks," said Peters on Abdull's injury.

"We're looking to see if he needs an operation, which would put it around 16, 17 weeks. If he doesn't need the op, it would probably cut the return period by four or five weeks.

"It's been a trend with Jordan around this part of the year. What we need to do is look further into his body and reasons behind it. That means sending him away somewhere after the season or during his rehab just to find out a little bit more.

"It's a huge blow. He was up there at the top of the Man of Steel leaderboard for a long period early on in the season. He was a massive reason why we went on that good run with his game management.

"We're going to miss him but it gives an opportunity to Rowan Milnes who had a sensational pre-season and the few games he's played he played well. He'll be ready to step up again."

Sam Wood has also joined the casualty list following a costly defeat in Perpignan.

The versatile outside back dislocated his wrist and knee against the Dragons and has been ruled out for up to four months, meaning he is unlikely to play for the Robins again ahead of his expected move to Castleford Tigers.

“It’s probably a little bit worse (than first feared),” said Peters, who is also without James Batchelor and Jesse Sue long term.

“He’s looking at three or four months on the sidelines. There was probably more damage to the knee that we originally thought.

“It’s another blow as Sam has done a great job for us whenever he’s been in.

“We’re going through a tough period at the moment. Sometimes you have bad luck with rugby league injuries and a lot of those are the case at the moment.

"What we need to do is work together and control what we can control.”

Coote, meanwhile, will visit a concussion specialist next week as fears continue that his planned retirement may be brought forward.

“He has to make that decision – and that could be made for him,” added Peters.

"It's for him and his family but Lachlan doesn't need to prove it anymore. We've had some talks and he's speaking to his family.

"There’s no pressure from our end. We’ll support him no matter what. The decision will be made in the next couple of weeks. We are looking at everything.”