Super League has seen a crazy amount of injuries in the opening four rounds.
Hull FC full-back Will Pryce.(Image: Dave Loftouse, Hull FC)
Super League has seen a crazy amount of injuries picked up in the opening four rounds of the season, particularly to players playing at full-back, and for Hull FC head coach John Cartwright, it all points to one thing: the speed of the game.
New interpretations have been introduced to the competition this year to punish holding down at the ruck more strictly and ensure a faster play of the ball, which has, in turn, meant a faster game. But while the average play of the ball is now one second faster, it seems like it’s come at a consequence elsewhere, at least according to the Hull boss, who has stated that his players are now covering more ground than they were this time last year.
Hull, doing it tough on the injury front, lost Will Pryce to a season-ending blow back in February, and he isn’t the only long-term absentee either, with Castleford Tigers full-back Blake Taaffe also ruled out with an ACL rupture and Bevan French out for four months with a hamstring tear.
Hull KR star Arthur Mourgue and St Helens ace Jack Welsby are also out for a few months with a torn pec and shoulder blows. Leigh Leopards’ Bailey Hodgson is also out with a knee injury, while Huddersfield Giants’ George Flanagan has an ankle issue. In fact, Huddersfield are crippled with no fewer than 16 injuries, while Castleford and Leigh have been dealt hefty numbers.
“The only thing I can put it down to is the game has got faster,” Cartwright said when asked about the increasing number of injuries seen so far in Super League. “The data coming out of games shows the players are covering more metres and they’re doing it at a faster speed.
“That’s a fact. You get the numbers after every game and when you compare them to where they were last year, the fact is the game has got faster, they’re moving for more metres and they’re moving faster doing those metres.
“You can manage it at training as best as you possibly can, but the human body is only capable of so much and at some point, no matter who you are, you hit a breaking point.”
Meanwhile, Bradford Bulls coach Kurt Haggerty has stated the volume of injuries could be down to the quality of the pitches games are being played on.
The Bulls boss pointed to the state of pitches and the transition from 4G to grass surfaces as a possible reason – and especially if the numbers drop when the weather dries up come the summer months.
“It’s a pretty bizarre situation at the moment,” Haggerty said. “The one thing I’ve thought about and spoken to our staff about is that in this country, we don’t cater properly for the weather in our competition.
“For example, we’re constantly on 4G pitches and then go to grass pitches. The change in surfaces is really inconsistent at the moment. Ultimately, we’re not in a place as a sport to have every club with the facilities of a 4G and also a Desi Ball pitch, which is half grass and half 4G.
“The change in surfaces constantly because of the weather and the country that we live in has a huge impact on injuries, especially early on in the season because you’re transitioning from 4G to grass.
“Let’s review it halfway through the season or at the back end and see if the injuries have calmed down. If they do, I think that has a really big bearing on it.”