Hull FC boss John Cartwright has revealed Liam Knight has been playing through a long-lasting illness over the last couple of months.
The forward was one of Hull’s standout performers on Saturday afternoon at Wigan Warriors, playing a monster 69-minute stint through the middle to help the Black and Whites to victory at the Brick Community Stadium. It was a performance that built on a fine showing against Wakefield Trinity the week before and helped them secure a spot in the top six for another week at least.
Knight joined the Black and Whites late, with his debut for the club coming in March, just a few days after making the move over from Australia, where he struggled to find a new club. He instantly impressed and became something of a favourite at the MKM Stadium, prompting the club to tie him down for next season as well, according to a Hull Live report.
However, just like Hull, Knight’s form had been up and down prior to that Wakefield game, with three defeats in four games coming before that clash on July 10. Cartwright has confirmed the prop was playing through illness during that period, but he’s back to his best now and ready to dig deep for the FC cause.
Hull FC head coach on Liam Knight
“He hasn’t been really well,” Cartwright said, per the Black and Whites website. “He’s had a little virus over the last six weeks which we couldn’t get to the bottom of, but he’s pushed through, and he’s played through.
“He’s played a lot of minutes recently where we didn’t want to play him, but through necessity we did. Last week he felt much better, and today he could have got through the 80 if we needed him to. We had a couple of reserves up our sleeves, and he started to cramp up, so we got him off.
“He’s always had big minutes in him. I’ve known Liam for a long time, since our days at Manly. He’s always been a front-rower who could play big minutes, and he’s older and a lot more mature now. He’s more equipped to do it now.”
Jed Cartwright was another stand out performer for the Black and Whites on Saturday with the back-rower building up his game time gradually after missing a huge chunk of the season through injury.
“We’ll just keep managing his body,” the head coach added on his son. “He probably could have played further today, but the plan with Jed is long-term.
“The physios and the medical staff are doing a fantastic job with all the injuries that we’ve had. Everyone is back early or on time, and they’ve all got a plan. As coaches, we’ve just got to stick to that plan and make sure they’re all long-term.”
