Rovers set to send young guns out on loan for experience
TONY Smith is hopeful that he will be able to send some of his Hull KR youngsters out on loan to the Championship to gain experience during the 2021 season.
Rovers have a 32-man squad two months out from the start of the new campaign, including several youngsters who are unlikely to feature for Smith’s side this year.
Game time will be hard to come by for a lot of Super League players in 2021 in the absence of reserve grade and dual-registration.
Sending fringe players out on initial 28-day loans will be an option for clubs and is something KR will explore when the season begins, while they are also looking to move Jimmy Keinhorst on.
“They’re all at our disposal but if things went well some of those younger guys will be training in a full-time environment and hopefully getting experience in the Championship,” Smith told the Mail.
“That’s the ideal world. Who knows? Opportunity may come for them sooner and they may be able to step up quicker than you would hope. We’ve got a decent number within our squad to be able to cater for most things.”
Academy products Will Tate,
Charlie Cavanaugh and Tom Whur have recently been promoted to the senior squad, while Anesu Mudoti is another youngster gaining invaluable experience training with the first team.
Smith viewed the prop as a project following his arrival from Bradford Bulls at the end of 2019 and he is effectively back where he started after a lost year.
Mudoti dislocated a wrist in pre-season and then suffered a hamstring injury after seeing the Reserves League cancelled.
He has therefore not played any rugby since last March and a loan move is a strong possibility.
“He’s a raw-boned kid and a lovely kid who works really hard,” Smith added. “In an ideal world he’d be one of those players who goes out on loan and gets some experience at Championship level. That’d be a good part of his development with us not having reserve grade.
“He’s trying really hard. We’ve identified him for our future and we want to develop him.
“How quickly that happens is really going to be down to him, but also how we can get him some experience.”