Hull FC interim coach has confirmed that hooker Cade Cust will potentially miss a month of action with the Australian a notable omission from the 21-man squad that was named for Saturday’s clash against Huddersfield Giants.
Cust was one of two players to drop out with Zak Hardaker (HIA) being the other one and Last shared an update on the duo, and a host of the club’s other injured players, when speaking to BBC Radio Humberside on Thursday.
On Cust, he revealed: “Cade’s been battling along with a bit of an AC joint. He took a needle before the game last week. Within 15 minutes, it was still a little bit sore and again he was brave enough to try again with a needle at half-time and managed to knock out 60 minutes for us, which is a credit to Cade and his desire and his toughness to stay out there and battle away as he did.
“I thought Cade did a really, really good job, but was very, very sore the following morning. We’ve sent him for another scan and obviously, a little bit more damage was in there, so he’s going to be missing for three to four weeks.”
Losing Cust for such a period is undoubtedly a blow especially considering the significance of the games in the coming month, starting with Saturday’s must-win game against bottom of the league Huddersfield and then leading up to Magic Weekend against Hull KR.
Brad Arthur commits to Leeds Rhinos, Hull KR lose back-to-back and Captain’s Challenge rule debated – Click here to listen to this week’s episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show
Zak Hardaker update issued
Another man who will miss Huddersfield but will hopefully be back for next week is Zak Hardaker, who left the field against Warrington with a worrying neck injury.
Speaking after the game, Last had reported that Hardaker ‘felt a crunch’ in his neck but thankfully today’s news was positive.
“He had an MRI scan during the week,” Last confirmed, noting: “There’s no long-term severity in terms of disc issues or anything like that. He’s just obviously suffering the symptoms from his head getting caught in an unfamiliar position, shall we say.
“He’s (going through) return to play protocols on the back of that concussion. Obviously, a few years ago, he had a disc issue, so everything’s just gone into spasm. He’s trapped and his neck’s a little bit stiffened.
“He’s improved significantly, so fingers crossed he should be available for the next game against Wakefield.”
Who is back next for Hull FC?
Hardaker and Cust were the latest to join a massive injury list that features some substantial salary cap and plenty of starters, including James Bell, Lewis Martin and Davy Litten.
On second-rower Bell and why he wasn’t named for Saturday’s game despite positive feedback last week, Last explained: “It (Bell’s knee) has just not quite improved significantly enough. He needs a little bit more running time. The more he runs, a little bit of soreness in that knee, which he had the operation on.
“It’s just basically symptoms. He needs to get the K’s into his legs, feel comfortable, obviously, once he’s doing that running, and having no adverse effects to the running that he’s doing. James is just a week-to-week thing at the moment now.”
Martin and Litten are among the others who could return soon, as Last said: “We are going to get many players back for a significant period of time. We might get Lewis Martin (ankle) available. Lewis is out of his boot, he’s back on the field running, doing his change of direction stuff.
“Davy Litten (knee) has had a good running session today. He’s very, very confident that he’s going to be back sooner rather than later.
“Then after that, it’s weeks before we get a significant number of our long-term injuries back available for selection.”
One of those to replace Hardaker and Cust was Jed Cartwright who is available for the first time since his round three injury against York Knights.
On the second-rower, Last side: “The reasoning behind last week’s non-selection is because we were carrying some guys in the team who had some knocks. Obviously, Jed’s coming back from a significant injury so we didn’t feel it was right to put him into the team when you’re carrying some knocks due to the worry of Jed and his minutes.
“He’s got another good week’s practise under his belt. He’ll give us some real strike on the edge and I’m really excited to see Jed play. I know he’s really, really keen to put in a strong performance for the club and the team.”
Warrington Wolves
Super League switch looms as Warrington Wolves half-back exits club
