Hull KR sweating on star’s fitness for St Helens semi-final clash as boost revealed

Hull KR remain uncertain whether veteran hooker Michael McIlorum will be able to feature in this weekend’s semi-final against St Helens, but winger Joe Burgess has now fully recovered from his injury.

Former Ireland and England international McIlorum, who joined Hull KR on a one-year deal in 2025, has had a torrid time with injuries during his stint at Craven Park.

Having already torn his bicep this year, he fractured his ankle in training in early August and hasn’t played since.

Set to hang up his boots come the end of the season and return to France as he becomes an assistant coach at former club Catalans Dragons, the 37-year-old has been facing a race against time to be fit for the play-offs.

Now just a few days away from a semi-final clash at home against Saints, that race remains ongoing.

Hull KR sweating on star’s fitness for St Helens semi-final clash as boost revealed

Robins head coach Peters shared an update on McIlorum during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon, with the hooker’s last appearance coming back on August 9 against Castleford Tigers.

Peters explained: “He’s close, but we’ll have to wait and see at the back end of the week.

“He did get through some training today, but he’ll need to tick a couple more things off to be playing.

“I can’t give an answer at the minute to say, ‘yes he is’, or, ‘no he’s not’ (playing).”

Elsewhere though, there is good news for KR with Burgess – who has scored 18 tries in Super League this term – set to return come Saturday night.

Having missed their last three games of the ‘regular’ season through a calf problem, he will displace youngster Noah Booth.

Peters confirmed: “Joe got through the session today, so he will be fine. He’s ready to go.”

‘It’s unfortunate that players have to miss out, but hopefully we’ve got two more games and it’s about the team’

Barring McIlorum, KR pose almost a clean bill of health, meaning Peters faces some tough selection decisions heading into the weekend.

As they aim to seal a second successive Super League Grand Final appearance, the Robins boss said: “It’s a difficult one, the majority of the squad is in healthy shape, which is what you want.

“You want these headaches. It’s unfortunate that players have to miss out, but hopefully we’ve got two more games and it’s about the team.

“The majority of the squad have played a massive part this year, and the ones that haven’t played many games in the first-team have played their part in training.

“It’s difficult every single week to pick a team, but certainly this week because there are players in the team that should be in because of what they’ve done throughout the year, but we can only pick 17 players.”