Hull FC boss John Cartwright has given a timescale on John Asiata’s injury, after the veteran was helped from the field on Good Friday.
Just five games after returning from a long-term hamstring injury, Asiata again went down with the same issue, and left the action in the second half of FC’s derby day defeat to Hull KR.
The early signs, most notably Asiata’s initial reaction to the blow, suggested that it was again going to be a long-term issue, and the departing boss revealed the bad news in his weekly press conference.
Cartwright, who will leave FC at the end of the season and spoke in his presser about that exit, said:Â “He sees a specialist tonight [Monday].
“It’s long term, I’d say minimum 12. If it needs surgery, probably a little bit longer.”
In what is a cruel blow for Asiata and FC, the boss continued: “He’s in rehab now, that dark place that everyone hates being, but he’s there and he’s handling it the right way. He’s been through it before.
“He understands, he certainly knows what’s in front of him, and he’s a real positive chap and he’ll be back this year at some point.
“That’d be minimum. We’ll have a better idea of that tonight.”
Also injured on Good Friday was Frenchman Arthur Romano, who had been consistently solid for FC since his move from Catalans Dragons.
He picked up a lower leg injury, and will be out for at least two months as the Black and Whites’ injury list starts to mount.
On Romano, Cartwright explained: “They’re saying 8-12 weeks. Again, that’s a broad time frame, but I’d say around the eight weeks.
“He’ll work really hard to get back. He already is, so he’ll be back on the shorter end of 8-12.”
Hull FC boss provides John Asiata latest
Whilst FC have not had a great start to the year in terms of results, their efforts on the field can’t be questioned, believes Cartwright.
With a number of absentees forcing positional switches, the former Gold Coast Titans boss called out some of his players for high praise after excelling through the tough period.
He said: “I couldn’t be happier with the effort of the players that go out there. Sometimes we might be off a little bit with skill, and might be off a little bit with class on the end of things, but the effort to get themselves in the game, I’ll never fault.
“We’ve got Aidan Sezer there [in the halves]. A big reason we signed Belly [James Bell] was to be able to fill a job for when Johnny [Asiata] wasn’t there, if we needed to give him a break in the game or through injury. He’ll get his opportunity there.
“I’ve been really happy with Harvie Hill and Ligi [Sao] and Sam Lisone coming off the bench. Zak Hardaker will be there, and whenever he’s there, it doesn’t matter where he is, you’re always a chance in these types of games.
“Cade Cust, I’ve been really happy with him. We’ve still got the nucleus of a very good team. It’s knocking our depth around a little bit, but we’ve still got the nucleus of a very good team.”
Jazz Tevaga’s sin-bin, Hull KR’s underrated star and very early Man of Steel candidates – Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show.
