Hull FC confirm two season-ending injuries as another key player also doubt for Saints clash
Simon Grix has confirmed season ending injuries for Hull FC duo Liam Sutcliffe and King Vuniyayawa. Both players went off with knocks during last Saturday’s defeat at Catalans Dragons, with the interim coach confirming significant blows for each.
Going off in the second half, Sutcliffe has suffered a foot injury that will require surgery, with the centre, who will join Huddersfield Giants next season, fracturing his foot as well as damaging ligaments. Vuniyayawa, meanwhile, also has a substantial ankle injury, and won’t play again this season, having arrived on loan from Salford Red Devils a fortnight ago.
That sees Hull’s injury total rise to a dozen players at least ahead of Saturday’s clash against St Helens, with the squad down to its bare bones with eight rounds of the season still to go.
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Grix said: "It’s a bad one for Sutty, and it requires surgery. There is a fracture in his foot and there is some ligament damage as well. It’s a significant one that needs fixing, and it'll be a significant time away from playing and training. He’s definitely out for the season. It's really unfortunate, as Sutty, in trying times, has been good and dependable for us. It's a shame.
"King is also in bad shape. He's done for the year with an ankle injury. He's had the scan, and he's got a decent amount of damage. He knew we needed him after half-time, and fair play to him. He's obviously got a very high pain threshold to push himself on. It’s really disappointing. We brought him in as another big ball carrier and a big body. I won't say that it sums up our year, but it's kind of the way things have been."
Elsewhere, Herman Ese’ese is also a doubt for Saturday's fixture, having played through the pain barrier in Perpignan. The front rower has been ever-present since round-three, with a big call to be made later this week.
"He's struggling," Grix, who is keeping Ese'ese's knock under wraps, confirmed. "We'll make a late call on him. If he doesn't play, it's a loss to us. He's played big minutes in almost every game and been great. It'll be disappointing for him not to play, but on the other hand it isn't the end of the world either."
Offering a further update, Grix also confirmed that Jed Cartwright is now out of his protective boot, with the back-rower in training and hoping for an August return. Logan Moy, too, is all good, having travelled to Perpignan last week. He was the 19th man, and was seen running out on the field in the warm up.
"Jed is out of his boot," Grix explained. "He’s run today. He didn't look too bad, to be fair. He won’t play this week, but as with all of them, he's got his return-to-play protocols to go through and the boxes to tick. Hopefully, he gets through them pretty quickly. Moy has also trained. He's fine and back in contention this week."
On a lighter side, Hull have a welcome return in Tiaki Chan. The on-loan forward played for parent club Wigan Warriors’ reserves last week, but is now available for the Black and Whites once again.
"Tiaki is back with us," Grix added. "He's still on loan. They wanted a look at him, and thankfully, he's not picked up any knocks."
Grix also confirmed Tom Briscoe is fit and available again after missing the Catalans game due to personal reasons.
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