The Hull FC injury latest after defeat to Leeds.
John Cartwright has confirmed a triple injury blow to his Hull FC side. The Black and Whites were defeated 34-0 by Leeds Rhinos on Saturday afternoon, with Herman Ese’ese and Ed Chamberlain leaving the MKM Stadium field in the first half.
The Hull head coach has also revealed a back knock to Cade Cust, with the team counting the cost of what was a tough defeat.
The extent of all three injuries is currently unknown, with Chamberlain injuring his hamstring and Ese’ese his lower leg – a blow that the club will now need to get to the bottom of over the weekend.
Speaking post-match, Cartwright said: “I don’t know with Herman. It’s a lower leg injury and he can’t put any weight on it. I haven’t spoken to the doctors or the physios yet. We’ll know more next week.”
On Chamberlain and Cust, Cartwright continued: “Ed has done a hammy, by the looks of it. He’s tight there and we’ll have to check that through the week. Cade has got a bit of a back issue. Those are the main ones.”
Going into the clash, Hull were already without the likes of Will Pryce (hamstring), Jed Cartwright (pectoral), John Asiata (hamstring), Ligi Sao (knee), and Liam Knight (ankle) due to injury.
And it’s not going to get much better against Hull KR next week, with only Sam Eseh likely to return for the derby at Craven Park.
“I think Sam Eseh is about 50/50,” Cartwright said. “Outside of that, no (returns).”
Conceding that his squad are running out of numbers, with Hull perhaps forced to tap into the younger members of their roster next week, Cartwright added. “It’s especially in the middle.
“In periods of that game, we had Brad Fash, Yusuf Aydin, and Matty Laidlaw in the middle of the field. They tried their backsides off, but they’re pretty big boys, those Leeds boys, and it was similar to St Helens last week – we got some injuries, and we lacked a little bit of size in the middle.”