New pair miss out for Hull

Hull earned themselves a point in their opening game against Warrington, despite the absence of two of their major close season signings.

Hooker Aaron Heremaia was ruled out last week with a troublesome neck injury, and he was joined on the sidelines by Brett Seymour, who had an operation on his knee at the weekend.

It meant a start at half-back for youngster Danny Nicklas, and he impressed, as the Airlie Birds were only denied victory by a last minute Rhys Evans try for Warrington.

Former Wigan prop Eamon O’Carroll was also missing, but the manner of the Hull performance is sure to give their fans encouragement for the long season ahead.

Head coach Peter Gentle said: “We have a good squad and we were confident in the team we put out, with Jamie Ellis also unlucky to be edged out of a place in the team. 

“Brett had an operation on his knee yesterday morning and he was walking around in the dressing room after the game. Hopefully he will just miss the one game, or possibly two. 

“Eamon strained his back early in the week and just couldn’t recover in time for today, but we hope to have him back for Catalans. 

“However, we showed today that we have a strong squad and we won’t be taking any risks with players unless they are 100 per cent fit.”

Hull travel to France on Saturday for a tough away trip against Catalan, who kicked off their Super League season with an impressive 34-12 win at Bradford.