A blow for Hull FC and Lewis Martin.
Hull FC winger Lewis Martin.(Image: SW PIX)
Hull FC winger Lewis Martin will miss Saturday’s Super League game against Leigh Leopards. Martin left the field for a head injury assessment in the final few minutes of last Thursday night’s defeat at York Knights and subsequently failed that assessment, automatically standing the player down for the 11 day mandatory period.
The winger copped a high tackle from York prop Jack Martin. The incident wasn’t penalised at the time but was placed on report by referee Tara Jones, with the forward since receiving a Grade B head contact charge from the RFL’s Match Review Panel on Monday afternoon.
Martin will now need to go through the return to play protocols in order to feature against Hull KR in the third and final derby of the season on Thursday 23 July. The blow comes at a frustrating time, with the winger only returning to the side three weeks ago from an ankle injury that ruled him out for four games. He has six tries in 15 appearances this season.
On a lighter note, Davy Litten is expected to return to the side having missed the York game due to a failed HIA in the Magic Weekend defeat to Hull KR. Andy Last confirmed to Hull Live last week that Litten is expected to be the only injured player to return to the Hull side for the Leigh game and is seemingly set to move back into the centre spot, with Tom Briscoe, who stood in at York, moving to the wing to cover Martin’s loss. Zak Hardaker and Harvey Barron are likely to hold their spots on the right edge.
Elsewhere, the likes of John Asiata (hamstring), Ligi Sao (shoulder), Sam Lisone (pec), Arthur Romano (ankle), Connor Bailey (collarbone), and Brad Fash (knee) are expected back next month, with Romano labelled by Last as the frontrunner to make his return first. Will Pryce, Will Kirby, and Joe Ward (all ACL) are out for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Hull have nine games of the Super League season to go. They have won just two of their last dozen matches and dropped to 13th place in the table over the weekend – six points above bottom placed side Huddersfield Giants.