Depleted Hull FC hit with fresh injury blow but two to return

Hull FC could be without star half-back Jake Trueman for the remainder of the Super League season, Simon Grix has confirmed. Trueman, who has struggled with Achilles injuries in the past, has picked up a muscle tear close to the tendon.

The stand-off is wearing a protective boot and with just seven Super League rounds remaining, it seems unlikely that he will play again this season, with the injury set to end his campaign prematurely. It sees Trueman join a list of Hull FC absentees that includes Danny Houghton, Liam Sutcliffe and Jack Ashworth.

With Hull in action this week against Leigh Leopards, it seems as though youngster Jack Charles will be given the chance to play in the halves once more, alongside Jack Walker.

“He’s gone, potentially for the rest of it, as well,” Grix said in his press conference on Thursday afternoon. “Truey felt a bit of tightness in his Achilles, not the one he had the injury on recently, but the other side, and as a precaution due to what he’s been through, we didn’t want to risk anything.

“We sent him for a scan, and we all got shocked. We thought it was some tightness, but he’s got a couple of tears, which is putting some strain on his Achilles and they need to heal. That will take however long it takes and with seven weeks left, we’ll be lucky to see him again. It puts further strain on where we are at.

“He’s disappointed, but the information from the specialist that’s read the scan and is experienced in that field is this may be what he had last time before his other went. The muscles shut down because of the pain and then you’re overloading your Achilles, and then there’s the potential for rupture.

“Although it’s gutting for us and it’s gutting for him, there is that silver lining of we did the right thing and looked properly at it and potentially helped him avoid another lay-off for him, which would have been tough to take. We’re gutted, absolutely gutted, but what can you do?”

There has been some good news for Hull, though, with Jed Cartwright on the verge of making his debut for the club. The back-rower has been injured since arriving at the club earlier this season, but he has been training with his teammates and he looks set to take on the Leopards.

Herman Ese’ese also stands a chance of being involved after missing the clash with St Helens last time around.

“He’s in,” Grix said regarding Cartwright. “He’s healed really fast, we thought it could have been longer. We are happy to have him back, and I know we have the negatives, we are just going down the line of controlling what we can. We can’t control people being injured or banned. We’ve just got to get on with what we’ve got.

“Herman is still not 100%, but he’s right enough to play, he’s completed everything he needs to so far. We’ve got one more session, but we are the bones or the bones so I would expect to see him out there.”