“I apologise to Brett Hodgson if I send him back in pieces” – Tim Sheens opens up on Hull star’s injuries

Tim Sheens’ Combined Nations All Stars may well have beaten England, 26-24, but one notable moment saw Jake Connor limping off the field late in the second-half.

Sheens has since confirmed that Connor will be getting an X-ray on a suspected broken jaw, but the Hull fullback also succumbed to a knee problem.

“Jake Connor’s knee was subluxed, and when he dived for the first try he got a kick in the jaw,” Sheens said.

“I apologise to Brett Hodgson if I send him back in pieces! He was battling to keep up and wanted to stay on but I took him off.

“The doctor believes his jaw is broken but I hope it’s nothing more than a small fracture – that will be a bit of a wait.”

The former Hull KR boss said how stressful the week had been leading up to the game in trying to field a side.

“It was a tough week from day one, sorting the side out.

“I think we went into camp on Monday and still only had 14 players, but credit to England too, they lost Jonny Lomax and Alex Walmsley which didn’t help their chance and we would have been in a bit of trouble had they played.”

Sheens also praised the togetherness within his squad.

“We gave them a good game and Shaun (Wane) won’t be happy about losing but I think the best from his side is yet to come.

“They are a tired bunch, dancing in the dressing room, but they’ve been close all week.

“We’ve had just two training sessions and the week has gone really fast because we’ve all been very together.

“All in all, it wasn’t a great spectacle, but it was a very close and spirited game.

“We finished the game with 15, we were struggling for numbers and we didn’t carry a back on the bench so we had to use Kenny Edwards as an outside back.”

Peter Mata’utia will get accustomed to the Halliwell Jones turf next season when he dons the Warrington colours and Sheens waxed lyrical about his performance.

“Pete did a great job, we had to shuffle the side and put him to fullback.

“At one stage in selection I was going to play him 13, but he was pretty happy he didn’t have to because it was a pretty rough game in the middle.

“He’s a big body, he’s fit and he’s got versatility. He can play fullback and centre and I imagine he can play 13 so he’s a very valuable player.”