Balmforth and Salabio are expected to be back in the Hull FC side this week.
John Cartwright is backing Hull FC duo Denive Balmforth and Hugo Salabio to hit the ground running again this week and expects both players to prove a point with their performance. The forward pair were recalled from their respective loan spells on Tuesday and are expected to feature against Warrington Wolves in Saturday evening’s must-win game.
And in Balmforth’s case, there will be plenty of match sharpness, with the young hooker playing ten times on loan at Catalans Dragons, scoring three tries. He also played nine times for Hull this year before his loan spell in Perpignan.
Meanwhile, Salabio’s recent appearances haven’t been as frequent, with the player battling a couple of injury issues. But Cartwright, who has seen his squad decimated by both injuries and suspension over the last few weeks, insists both players will be raring and ready to go.
“They’ll be fine – they’ve been training with Super League clubs,” the head coach said. “We’re fortunate – you put players out on loan to play football and Denive has been playing and that was the whole reason he went there – to get good minutes.
“We had a hooker here (Amir Bourouh, now suspended) who plays big minutes and Denive has been able to go over there and play big minutes. He’s ready to go – he’s excited. He wouldn’t have played for Catalans against us next week anyway but through necessity, he’s here now and he’s got an opportunity. He’s excited.
“Hugo hasn’t played as much as he would have hoped but he did play a couple of weeks ago and he’s been in a full-time system. He has had a bit of a calf injury, but now he’s got a chance to play for a side going for finals. He’s really excited too – you can feel it.
“He’s been on the out a little bit but after the weekend, we didn’t have an awful lot of choice. We’re down to around 12 players sidelined who could possibly be playing but we’ve got full confidence in those coming in.
“They’ve spent big blocks of training here and they’ve trained with Super League clubs. They’re fit, they’re in shape, and they’re ready to go.”
Coming back into the Hull team, Cartwright is also expecting both players to be spurred on and prove why they belong at the club – who are still gunning for a Super League play-off place but know they have to beat Warrington first and then Catalans next Thursday to stand a chance.
“You’ve always got a point to prove, no matter when you’re playing,” he continued. “Denive has signed a decent-length contract here. They’re competitive people and they want to be at their best every week.
“There’s an opportunity here to play finals footy. I believe it’s still wide open, the sixth spot, and they’ve got a chance to come in and show what they can do in pressure situations and in big games. There’s nothing better as a player than playing in big games.”