Jake Trueman's Hull FC saviour tag outside noise with pressure stance explained

Comeback man Jake Trueman is so relieved to just be playing again that, for him, Hull’s ongoing drama has faded into the background. The gifted stand-off is set to enjoy his first start in nine months when they visit London on Sunday.

He made his long-awaited return from a torn Achilles off the bench in last week’s loss at Warrington. Trueman was crocked versus the same opponents last August and had to watch on helplessly as FC endured a horrendous start to the new Super League season.

Boss Tony Smith ’s been sacked, Richie Myler has come in as a shock director of rugby appointment, a raft of players have left and plenty have been signed, too. Trueman, 25, admitted: “It has been a bit weird with all the comings and goings. But I am just happy to be back playing. I played the second half and was fine.

“It was actually better than I thought; I didn’t have any trouble with the Achilles. It was good. It's a relief to get back playing and get through it with no issues. I’d never pulled a muscle or anything but these last two have been serious ones. Hopefully that’s my injuries done now. You do realise how much you miss rugby when it’s gone.”

Trueman is certainly due a change in luck given Hull brought him in from Castleford last year while he was still recovering from a knee reconstruction. He only managed 15 games before cruelly being sidelined again. But the former Great Britain tourist insisted: “The injury wasn’t actually as bad as my knee so that was positive.

"It couldn't have gotten much worse; that was about 11 months to get back. It was pretty tough at the start, the first couple of days when I just had to get my head around it all. But it's fine now and great to be out there again. But no one’s putting any pressure on me, none of the players or staff, so that’s good. I just want to try and ease my way back in. It’ll be four to six weeks to get my fitness back and back to my best."

Interim head coach Simon Grix is delighted to have a player of his calibre back to guide his struggling team around. Their only victory in 11 outings so far was against Sunday’s winless opponents but even that was tough, Hull scraping home 28-24 in March. Trueman said: “They nearly beat us that day. They probably should have beaten us. They throw the ball around a bit and are an awkward team to play against. They seem to do a little better down there as well so it will be a tough one.”

Hull are still looking for a new head coach and are currently in a state of flux but the addition of Leigh captain John Asiata on a marquee deal for next season shows the direction they hope to go in. On the mood around the camp, Trueman admitted: "It’s different. Obviously, I was gutted to see Tony go and there’s been some massive changes. But it’s probably changes away from the field that we probably needed as the club’s underperformed since those Challenge Cup wins. We’ve needed some change and something a little different, new people coming in with some new ideas. It is pretty exciting."

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