HULL KR are into the Challenge Cup final – but Oliver Gildart won’t be playing at Wembley after being ruled out for four months.
Gildart suffered a knee injury at Magic Weekend and watched from the stands as the Robins beat Catalans Dragons in the semi-final at York.
And after the game coach Willie Peters revealed the bad news, with the centre set for surgery next week.
“Unfortunately Gilly is going to be (out for) 16 weeks,” he said.
“We got the news late in the week which is not great for us and not great for Gilly because he’s been outstanding. He might have been in the current Dream Team, that’s how well he’s played.
“The most important thing now is we get around him and get him back healthy, whenever that is.”
Peters was full praise for his players’ efforts after reaching a third major final in three seasons.
“I’m proud of the players – they were exceptional in the second half,” he said.
“The score didn’t indicate how close a game it was as it blew out at the end. It was tight.
“That first half, we got to 10-0 but I didn’t think we were playing that great. We were both feeling our way in.
“Then in those last ten minutes of the first half it was set-for-set attrition in the game and we came out the other end.
“We’re in the final. We haven’t won anything yet but we’re happy. We’ve just got to make sure we prepare right.
“We’ve got three Super League games to go. Hopefully the footy gods are on our side (with injuries) because there are players cup-tied that we can’t use.
“Today we had to move Batch (James Batchelor) to the centres and he does a job every time he plays there, but his best position is the back row.
“So we have to make sure we get a bit of luck along the way and then give ourselves a chance in three weeks’ time.
“It’s difficult to win trophies. We’re going to do everything we can to win one and we’ll give ourselves every chance because I know that, especially this year, every time we’ve been favourites or been set challenges, we’ve come out the other side.
“Sometimes that’s not always about winning, but of course we want to win that trophy.”
Peters was also asked about the post-match comments of Catalans coach Steve McNamara, who said he was “pissed off” with the officiating after not receiving a single penalty.
He said: “If I was the opposition coach and I’m not getting one I’d be asking why. I thought the ruck in general was pretty slow.”