HULL FC coach John Cartwright believes the bizarre number of injuries this season is down to one thing: Super League getting faster.
There’s been a spate of players getting crocked in the opening rounds of the new campaign, including a much-publicised apparent curse for the competition’s full-backs.
Hull’s own Will Pryce is just one of a raft of No1s to be sidelined by a substantial lay-off, with Wigan Warriors’ Bevan French, Warrington young gun Cai Taylor-Wray and Huddersfield Giants ace George Flanagan the latest to be afflicted.
It has begged the question: Why?
But Cartwright, who is also missing Herman Ese’ese after the star prop ruptured his Achilles tendon last term, insisted: “The only thing I can put it down to is the game has got faster.
“The data coming out of games shows the players are covering more metres and they’re doing it at a faster speed.
“That’s a fact. You get the numbers after every game and when you compare them to where they were last year, the fact is the game has got faster, they’re moving for more metres and they’re moving faster doing those metres.
“You can manage it at training as best as you possibly can.
“But the human body is only capable of so much and at some point, no matter who you are, you hit a breaking point.”
Cartwright’s own son Jed is out for three months with a hamstring tear, while Hull winger Harvey Barron is set for four weeks on the sidelines with an ankle issue.
Elsewhere, Cartwright hopes to tie up a new deal for in-form forward Yusuf Aydin, 25, who is out of contract at the end of the season.
The Turkey international joined from arch-rivals Hull KR in May 2024 as part of a swap deal which saw Jack Brown move the other the way.
On the prospects of extending his contract, Cartwright said: “That’s something Richie (Myler, chief executive) and Andrew (Thirkill, owner) will look at.
“Yusuf has done everything asked of him. He’s been an important member of the team ever since I’ve been here.
“He’s a great lad – he’s a good team man, a good club man – and I’d hope there would be some sort of deal to be done.”