Hull FC name much-changed squad for Warrington Wolves trip

Smith, who had an eight-year tenure at The Wire from 2009 to 2017, is now in command of Hull FC, the visitors in Round Two, a team already suffering from a severely injured and suspended roster.

They have three new signings who are among their strongest forwards, but they are suspended on Friday. In the Round One derby loss to cross-city rivals Hull KR, Franklin Pele and Herman Ese’ese received red and yellow cards, respectively. Pele will miss three games while Ese’ese will miss two.

In that match, Ligi Sao was also sent off, but even though he was able to get his charge dropped from Grade D to Grade B, he would still miss one game due to suspension.

Danny Houghton, the captain of the team that played the Robins last Thursday, is out due to a head injury that he sustained during the game. Smith has also lost striker Joe Cator (hamstring) and centre Cam Scott (calf).

Smith has selected a mostly youthful team for the journey across the Pennines, with injuries already plaguing starting half-back Jake Trueman (Achilles), outside backs Carlos Tuimavave (calf) and Liam Tindall (thumb), and forward Brad Fash (ankle).

Denive Balmforth, a hooker who played in The Wire’s academy before returning to his home Yorkshire to join Hull in 2022, is among them.

Hull FC squad to face Warrington Wolves in Round Two

Tex Hoy, Liam Sutcliffe, Darnell McIntosh, Fa’amanu Brown, Jayden Okunbor, Jordan Lane, Jack Ashworth, Morgan Smith, Jack Brown, Will Gardiner, Davy Litten, Nick Staveley, Harvey Barron, Lewis Martin, Denive Balmforth, Charlie Severs, Matty Laidlaw, Jack Walker, Macca Harman, Jeylan Hodgson, Lennon Bursell