HULL KR have re-signed halfback Rowan Milnes on a two-week loan from Castleford Tigers – despite being unable to play him this week.
The Robins host Castleford on Saturday, the first of two games that playmaker Tyrone May will miss due to suspension.
Milnes is ineligible to feature against his parent club, but will help Hull KR in their preparations for the game.
He could then potentially feature the following Friday, in a crunch top-of-the-table showdown at Wigan Warriors.
It’s an unusual return to a club Milnes served between 2020 and 2023, scoring seven tries and 41 goals in 49 appearances.
The 25-year-old has fallen out of favour recently at Castleford, not making an appearance since Chris Chester became interim coach after Danny McGuire’s exit.
Hull KR coach Willie Peters said: “We needed to bring in a back-up half for a couple of reasons – possibly for games but also for our training.
“We do a fair bit of 13 v 13 (in training) so we like to have a senior half there running the different plays the opposition will run against us. Rowan will obviously do a great job doing that.
“He’s a good guy. When he moved on and wanted to play more games he was missed among the group.
“We like to bring good people in, so it was seamless in the aspect of him coming back into the dressing rooms and already having relationships.”
Hull KR’s regular back-up half, Danny Richardson, is currently sidelined by an ankle injury, and has been linked with a move to York Knights when he recovers.
May was banned for questioning the integrity of the match official in Hull KR’s win at Salford Red Devils last week, and there was no prospect of an appeal.
“It is what it is,” said Peters. “You can’t speak back to referees, so we didn’t challenge that. He’ll learn from it and we’ll move on.”