Hull FC will be forced into at least one change at Wigan – but they’ll be hoping to make more.
Hull FC back rower Jed Cartwright.
Hull FC are back in Super League action at Wigan Warriors on Saturday night. Here, Hull Live looks at some early talking points.
Team changes
Hull FC will be making at least one change this week, with Ligi Sao handed a two-match suspension for a dangerous contact offence during last Saturday’s victory over Bradford Bulls. The prop forward was hit with a Grade D charge and will miss both the round two game at Wigan and next week’s clash against York Knights.
Elsewhere, it’s hoped that both Jed Cartwright and Jake Arthur will return to the side this week. Arthur picked up a minor hamstring strain towards the back end of the Salford game and at a push, could have played against Bradford with the club opting not to risk him. Cartwright copped a head knock at Salford but is expected to pass his final return-to-play checks early this week. James Bell and John Asiata are being assessed week to week and are both in training.
Haggerty takes aim at Ligi Sao tackle
Kurt Haggerty believes Ligi Sao’s tackle on Bradford back-rower Dan Russell ‘wasn’t a good look’, with the Bulls head coach surprised that the Hull forward escaped on-field punishment at the time.
Sao has since been suspended for two games after the tackle left Russell needing treatment and subsequently leaving the field. Haggerty has now stated that the injury – and that to Jayden Okunbor – ‘doesn’t look good’, with the coach also reaffirming his belief that Aidan Sezer should have been sin binned for a tackle on Joe Mellor.
Haggerty said: “It does add to the frustration. Put in the Sezer incident too and there are a couple of moments that could have been more noticed. It wasn’t a good watch back when I saw how Dan (Russell) got his injury, let’s just say that. Some incidents are not grey areas; they’re black and white.
“In my opinion, I thought the incident with Sezer should have been a sin-binning. It’s not a surprise (that he wasn’t charged); that’s just where the game is at right now at the moment. That’s their interpretation of it, so I’ll leave it at that.”
Pryce to back up his heroics
Will Pryce’s drop-goal against Bradford wasn’t a fluke, with John Cartwright revealing the full-back has spent a lot of time practising his kicking, both from the tee and the one-pointers, this off-season.
“Goal kicking, field goals, attacking raids – he practises a hell of a lot,” Cartwright said post-match. “He’s only young and he hasn’t played a hell of a lot of football. He’s got a lot in front of him, but what he has is a great work ethic.”
The next challenge for Pryce is to back his performance up at Wigan, with the maverick providing two try assists against the Bulls and, more impressively, two try-saving tackles on the Hull goal line. He certainly has the quality to hit Wigan where it hurts, and is benefiting from a full pre-season after arriving at Hull last April and jumping in the deep end.
“He came in last minute last year and didn’t get that pre-season with us,” Cartwright said on Pryce. “I thought he was just starting to find his feet and then he copped a couple of injury blows.
“The team was in a lot better shape with him out there and an understanding of what was happening around him. Unfortunately, he then copped a couple of really bad injuries. He’s had a good pre-season now, though. It will take a bit of time for combinations to form but that goes every year with every team.”
Grit is the vital component
Hull got the job done against Bradford – and they did it with effort, grit, and determination. Their attack didn’t fire on all cylinders, and their defensive contact wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but it was grit that got them home. It’s a component as important as any and ensures that Hull always have a fighting chance.
The side ran without some big players against Bradford – players that are integral to their shape and dynamics. They are no bigger than John Asiata and James Bell, who offer Hull that middle link and allow the attack to be stretched wider, biting at the line, and keeping the opposition defence engaged.
Without their ball-playing loose forward’s, Hull did look a little disjointed, but this time of the year isn’t exactly known for free-flowing rugby, and it can be grit that gets you over the line. Hull have bags of grit. And they’ll need grit again at Wigan. But whatever happens, you just know they will fight to the death, and that’s a great trait to have.
A happy hunting ground
Hull head to Wigan with the opportunity to make it three competitive victories in a row at the Brick Community Stadium. And who can forget either of the triumphs last year, with the Black and Whites producing heroics in the Challenge Cup to end Wigan’s trophy dynasty? They then returned over the Pennines four months later, running out comfortable 32-12 winners in Super League.
Can they strike again? John Cartwright hopes so. “That’s our challenge,” the head coach said. “We might have a couple back. We’ve got a full seven-day turnaround and you’d like to think we’ll be better for the run tonight (Bradford opener). We had some late changes to the team and that spine hadn’t spent a lot of time together. Whatever we showed tonight, we’re going to improve on.”