John Cartwright has praised the steel of his side after the ‘most consistent block of footy’ played so far this season. However, the Black and Whites’ head coach has also conceded that he now has to find a ball-playing solution after an injury to John Asiata in Thursday’s victory at Leigh.
Cartwright confirmed a hamstring blow to the loose-forward after the player ‘felt a pop’ in the second half. Asiata left the field, with scans to come over the weekend to determine the severity of the injury.
Hull will be keeping their fingers crossed for good news, but the early thought process is that Asiata will be out for next Saturday’s clash at Catalans Dragons.
That will see Cartwright and his coaching staff look for a replacement, with the side having a full week now to address it and come up with a solution.
They will also hope a hip bang to Cade Cust isn’t serious, with the half, like he did at Wakefield two months ago, leaving the field in the first half with the knock.
Speaking post-match, Cartwright said on Hull’s reshuffling: “You can lose one and you can cover it, but to lose two is really tough – especially to lose someone as dominant as Johnny.
“If we were able to keep Will Pryce, Aidan Sezer, and Cade Cust all on the field together, it wouldn’t have been such an issue, but losing two forced a major reshuffle with Zak Hardaker going to six – he hasn’t played a lot there, but he did a great job there.
“Ball playing-wise, that changed us a bit; we didn’t have a natural ball-playing middle, but we’ll have to train with it this week. At least we’ve got a week now to get ready for it.”
Praising the steel of his side, Cartwright watched Hull produce a composed and disciplined account at Leigh, racing into a 26-0 half-time lead after a frantic first half attacking display.
Happy with his side’s account, who have ended a four-game losing run, the head coach continued: “Leigh threw a lot at us – as good as we played in that first half, we got a bit of luck along the way, but you need a bit of luck.
“But the last two weeks have been the most consistent block of footy that we’ve put together. They are two sides that I really rate highly – Leeds and Leigh – they’re going to win more games than they lose.
“They’ve got a lot of depth, and they’re dangerous. I was really happy with last week; you don’t want to lose, but you’ve also got to be real, and I thought there was a lot to like. The challenge is to back up that same attitude, which, after a loss, doesn’t always happen, but we went straight back and got on with the job.”
Putting the focus on discipline, Cartwright added: “We learnt a lot about discipline and attitude after the Huddersfield game. We never want to lose; we played against some good sides, and in one of them we played with 12 men for 70 minutes. It wasn’t overly concerning; we were good attitude-wise in those games.
“I was just disappointed with the dip against Huddersfield. We addressed it, and it was all about discipline – not wasting energy on things we can’t control. That’s been a focus for us leading into the Leeds game and this game – and it will probably be a focus for us for the rest of the year.”