The latest injury news at Hull FC.
Hull FC forward James Bell.(Image: Hull FC)
John Cartwright has revealed that Hull FC loose-forward James Bell will be ‘touch and go’ to make the start of the 2026 season – with the Black and Whites taking on Bradford Bulls in their Super League opener one month today.
Bell picked up a knee injury during a wrestling session in December, and after seeing a specialist, the player required some surgery to correct the issue before undergoing a rehab programme. And despite the original hope that the 31-year-old would only miss around four weeks of action, he is still in the midst of that rehab programme now, albeit making good progress by the week.
In fact, hope is not lost on Bell featuring against the Bulls on February 14. However, the club will operate the same cautious stance it has on all players this pre-season, with no risks taken ahead of trial games against Huddersfield Giants (January 25) and Wigan Warriors (February 1), and the Challenge Cup tie against either Hammersmith Hills Hoists or Salford RLFC (February 6/8).
Providing an update to Hull Live, Cartwright reaffirmed that Herman Ese’ese (Achilles) is the only other player expected to miss the league opener, with his return hoped to come before the Easter weekend.
“We’ll be without Herman, but James Bell will also be touch and go,” Cartwright said. “He’s in rehab now going through a process after the surgery that he had. He’s progressing each week.”
Elsewhere, Hull saw over a dozen of their players undergo surgeries in the off-season, including the likes of Will Pryce (foot), Brad Fash (ankle), Zak Hardaker (thumb), John Asiata (hamstring), Aidan Sezer (shoulder), Jed Cartwright (pec), Liam Knight (foot), and Cade Cust (hernia).
However, all of those players, while not all in full training just yet, will be in contention for the league opener with precaution very much the word.
“The majority of those players are back in full training or will be back in training in the next couple of weeks,” Cartwright said. “They should be okay (for the Super League opener) but soft tissue injuries are a bit different, and you have to take into account the age of the player, and their previous injury history, and make sure that they are ready to play each and every week. We’ve just got to be cautious.”
Using Asiata, who is back in full training and getting stronger by the week, as an example, Cartwright added: “The big thing with him is not to rush him. It was some major surgery that he had on his hamstring.
“He’s recovered really well and he’s done everything possible he can humanly do to get it right. The big thing now is we keep monitoring him and not rush him.
“It’s a long, long season and once we start with the friendlies, there’s no weeks off until the end of the year. The key thing for us will just to be patient. That goes for all of the players.”