HULL FC head coach Tony Smith has hinted that two big Black and Whites stars could be fit for round one when his side take on the Castleford Tigers at the MKM Stadium.
Fresh from a 56-0 drubbing of Wakefield Trinity, Smith now has a quandary on his hands given the emphatic display of a number of his stars.
Alongside the competition for places already within the squad, the Australian veteran has revealed that Andre Savelio and Carlos Tuimavave could be back for the clash against the Tigers in two weeks.
“It’s just confused me a whole lot more, what I’m saying is there are more than 17 players that I can pick and I had 23 playing out there,” Smith said.
“There’s a couple of young blokes who got a run at the end of it, without them we’d have been ok but they will be better for that experience.
“There will be a few blokes who will miss out who feel like they could be in the team. I may well have Andre Savelio and Carlos Tuimavave available for round one, too. It’s going to be tough.
“To get through a season you need a big squad, everyone wants to be there in game one, but we’ve got a lot of hard work to do.”
Among those in brilliant form were new signings Jake Clifford, Tex Hoy, Brad Dwyer and Liam Sutcliffe with the quartet hoping to be in Smith’s thoughts for round one.
Meanwhile, there will be a selection issue at nine for Smith with Dwyer, Danny Houghton and Joe Lovodua vying for the spot whilst Ben McNamara will be hoping to have done enough at number 6 to get the nod for the opener.
In the back-row, Josh Griffin enjoyed a great first-half against Wakefield but with Savelio and Ligi Sao on their way back, it will be interesting to see Smith’s thinking.