Hull FC face Leigh Leopards in the Challenge Cup on Saturday.
Corey Hall of Wakefield fails to stop Lewis Martin of Hull FC from scoring a try(Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)
John Cartwright is insisting there’s no panic at Hull FC after an indifferent start to the Super League season and is counting on the Challenge Cup to kickstart their 2026 campaign on Saturday afternoon.
The Black and Whites head to Leigh Leopards in the last 16 after securing their passage with victory over Salford RLFC last time out. And Cartwright is backing his side – who are now one from four in Super League following Thursday’s 14-10 defeat at Wakefield Trinity – to come up trumps, and in particular if they can field the same group of players as they did in West Yorkshire the other night.
Overseeing a tough start to the season, the Hull head coach is desiring some continuity in selection with the side looking to build on the positives from Wakefield, which saw an influential first stint from vice captain John Asiata amid a gritty defensive effort. Get that, build some pressure, and add more bite to the attack, and the coach is confident FC can secure a quarter-final spot against an opponent that has also lost their last three Super League games.
“Every week is important, but it’s a different scenario next week; you lose and you’re out,” Cartwright, speaking to Hull Live, said. “I’m looking forward to it.
“I love the Challenge Cup and I’m looking forward to getting to Leigh and improving on what we showed at Wakefield. Hopefully we can put the same side on the paddock two weeks in a row, three weeks in a row – and that’s when you’ll start to see whether your green shots are green or not.”
Hull get the benefit of a long turnaround going into the Leigh clash, with the players reviewing and recovering from Thursday’s game on Friday before having the weekend off. They will now get three big training seasons plus a team run in the tank before heading over the Pennines in a bid to ignite their season.
“It helps,” Cartwright said on that long turnaround. “We’ll give the players plenty of time to rest but we’ll also get three really good sessions in.
“It’s just going to be a different season for us. We haven’t started the year the way we’d like to. We started better last year as far as results go, but I’m not going to panic. I like what I saw (at Wakefield) and we’ve got improvement in us.”