Hull FC recruitment hope, injury concern, Josh Charnley and Leigh Leopards v Hull FC talking points

Hull FC recorded their first win in five as they beat Leigh Leopards 26-12 at Leigh Sports Village.

The Black and Whites scored first half tries through Cade Cust, Herman Ese’ese, Lewis Martin and Sam Eseh and that was ultimately enough to get the job done on Thursday night.

Here’s just some of the talking points to emerge from the contest.

Hull attack clicking

It’s taken a little while but Will Pryce looks to be finding his feet in this Hull attack with the full-back dovetailing wonderfully with Aidan Sezer and Cade Cust, before the latter went off injured in the first half. The trio had individual roles to play in the four tries Hull scored, with Cust scoring the first, before Sezer’s 40/20 laid the platform for Herman Ese’ese to crash over.

Pryce blew the Leopards open as he slipped though a challenge before putting the ball on a plate for Lewis Martin. And, it was Sezer who created the fourth, breaking the line before putting Sam Eseh over on the hooter.

They didn’t have chance to create too much in the second half but after several fruitless weeks for the Black and Whites, they’ll head to Catalans Dragons full of confidence that they’ll be able to break the head coach-less French side down.

Leigh their own worst enemies

The Leopards had a strong 20-minute spell in the second half but Adrian Lam will have pulling his hair out with large periods of his side’s performance. They were sloppy, lacklustre and one dimensional in attack for much of the game with Lam and Edwin Ipape struggling to create anything of note before the latter eventually managed to get them on the board.

Ipape’s game in particular was littered with errors and with the hooker slightly off his game, Leigh struggled to get themselves going in attack.

What might be more worrying for Lam was how open his side were at times in defence, missing almost 30 tackles in the first half alone.

There’s work to be done for the Leopards before their clash with Huddersfield Giants next week.

Injury blows

Hull FC have been struggling with injuries all season and they were missing a number of key men at the Leigh Sports Village. Their injury woes were made worse in the first half when Cade Cust was forced out of the action with what looked like a hip problem.

The stand-off scored the first try of the game, slipping through the challenge of Lachlan Lam and Owen Trout to touch down. But, he was seen limping off midway through the first half with the impact of an Ipape tackle leaving him clutching at his flank.

Cartwright will be asked to clarify the injury after the game but it looked like either a hip or rib issue. The head coach will be hoping Cust can avoid joining the club’s list of lengthy injuries.

The Hull boss will be concerned about the fitness of John Asiata too, with the vice-captain sustaining a leg injury.

Sign them up

Cartwright must be hoping and praying the rules around quota players change going into next season, as has been proposed. The alterations put forward would see players who have been in Super League for six years or longer coming off the quota.

If that change goes through, it would open up the possibility for Hull FC to keep Liam Knight, who was highly impressive once more through the Black and Whites’ middle. James Bell, a recruit for next season would be eligible to come off quota, and that would open the door for Knight to sign.

The Australian played huge minutes at Leigh, finding an offload or two and making tackle after tackle after tackle. They’ll have competition for him, but if they can do it, securing Knight has to be a priority.

The Black and Whites will be asking Wigan Warriors about their plans for Sam Eseh, too, after a second try in as many week for the loanee.

Charnley’s changing role?

Adrian Lam was non-committal when asked about the future of off-contract winger Josh Charnley and that appeared to hint at the possibly of an exit at the end of the season.

However, the head coach sprung something of a surprise on Thursday night in moving the veteran from the starting line-up to the bench in favour of starting Keanan Brand on the wing.

It could have been due to an issue or a desire to spell his game time, but given the midweek quotes, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that Charnley’s role at Leigh could be starting to change ahead of a potential exit at the end of the season. The winger did emerge into the action with around 12 minutes left.

A needed win for @hullfcofficial and they can go home happy with the 2 points 🙌#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/P0ZbeUackZ

— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 22, 2025