It’s been a different pre-season for Hull FC.
Hull FC head coach John Cartwright. (Image: Hull FC)
John Cartwright has outlined his desired outcomes from Hull FC’s trial match at Wigan Warriors this Sunday afternoon.
The Black and Whites head over the Pennines for their second and final pre-season game before Challenge Cup and Super League action begins the following week. They have named a strong squad to take on Wigan, with more of their new signings included.
Asked what he’s hoping to get out of the game, Cartwright told Hull Live: “Just more of what we’ve been practising: getting our defence tested, seeing how fit we are, seeing how our combinations are forming with the ball.
“The main thing is just to get through the game injury-free and get ready for the following week. We’re playing against the best; both sides will be as close to full strength as they possibly can be. It will be a good hit out for us.”
The full-strength reality is a big statement for Cartwright, with the club nursing 13 surgeries through the off-season period. The likes of Will Pryce, Aidan Sezer, Jed Cartwright, John Asiata, Liam Knight, Cade Cust, and Herman Ese’ese have all gone under the knife, and as it stands, only Ese’ese is ruled out of the round one clash against Bradford Bulls.
Of course, the club have also picked up some pre-season injuries, notably James Bell, with Joe Phillips and Matty Laidlaw also picking up minor issues. Knight also copped a head knock in training, as exclusively reported by Hull Live on Wednesday.
“It’s been a funny one,” Cartwright said on pre-season. “We had a lot of surgeries at the end of last season. There were 13 guys who had some form of surgery and a lot of main players.
“It’s taken a while for those guys to filter back in but it’s also given 13 other guys an opportunity to fill in those places and that experience that they’ve gained in training has been good. And then when the senior players have come back in, it’s been very, very competitive.
“It’s a bit like a soap opera, a season for a rugby league team; it’s a full-contact sport, and at times at training you have to train at full contact and you do get a bit of fallout from that. We’ve picked up some little knocks along the way but heading into Wigan, we’ve got the majority of the squad available for selection, and by the time we play Bradford, we’ll be hoping to have everyone barring Herman close to being available.
“For me, that’s a win, having the majority of your squad being able to play round one.”