The Black and Whites have a huge chunk of the salary cap on the sidelines
Hull FC interim head coach Andy Last.(Image: SW PIX)
Hull FC are doing it tough right now with a huge chunk of the salary cap on the sidelines, but through adversity comes opportunity.
That’s the message from interim boss Andy Last, who has taken the opportunity to blood youth and give the club’s best academy products the first-team chances they’ve been craving over the last week or so.
Last would undoubtedly prefer to be approaching the challenge of Warrington Wolves next week with a fully fit squad at his disposal. Instead, though, a raft of the club’s senior players are sidelined through injury or suspension, with Davy Litten, Lewis Martin, James Bell and Ligi Sao among the latest to drop out and join the likes of Will Pryce, John Asiata and Sam Lisone in the treatment room.
Numbers are thin then, but Last still took pride in being able to give debuts to Lennon Clark and Ben Johnson last Friday at Leigh Leopards.
Will Hutchinson, Will Kirby, Callum Kemp and Lloyd Kemp were also included and they provided positives on what was otherwise a difficult evening.
“We’ve got so much quality on the sidelines and it’s not great to go down that road because it is an excuse,” Last said. “But when you’ve got, you know, maybe £800/900,000 worth of salary cap sat in the stand, it’s going to affect anybody.
“You look at Wigan, they lost Bevan French and for four weeks, they found it difficult to try and get a little bit of consistency in the way they play. They worked through it and Jack Farrimond has really stepped up to the plate.
“He’s got that control alongside him in Harry Smith and they found their grove again and now they’re looking really, really strong, but they had a period there where Bevan wasn’t there, and they didn’t look as good as they probably have been previously. We’ve had some very influential players not available to us, and we’re trying to find our best solution to make us a better attacking team.
“We’ve got great opportunities for young players to step up now and show us what they can do like Harvey, Lewis and Davy, Logan too. They are great opportunities for them, and it’s similar to what the Wigan and Saints of this world have done, they’ll get somebody coming in as a young kid, and they take that opportunity and grasp it, and they go on to have a great career.
“We want to see that at this club. It’s great for me to be able to give those young guys an opportunity and to be part of the squad, you know, to get more reps on the training field and potentially obviously make debut.
“So I’m excited to see what they can bring. They brought plenty of energy to training. And it’s an exciting time for us as club. I’m sure our supporters will back those young boys to the hill. They just want to see them giving their absolute best. If you give your best, they can cop it, whatever happens. I’m sure they’ll give it their best.”