Not always as easy as that though, as you well know I'm sure.
Cap, quota, contracts, it's a complicated picture and we're not coming from a great place.
I trust there is a multi-year plan and a picture of what sort of team we want to end up with.


On another note, I see Balmforth is heading to Catalans on loan for the rest of the year.
Not entirely sure what to make of that tbh. Cartwright obviously doesn't think he improves us currently so presumably this is a plan to get him some game time. My gut feeling is that it doesn't bode well for his future here.

It seems strange to send him out on loan when he's just signed a 3 year deal and we have no other hooker cover at the club beyond our stand off and a young kid.  I guess we'll be seeing charles off the bench and cust to 9 but weakens us in the halfs when we do, particularly an issue with asiata out

Cartwright sees players every day. How they train etc. Maybe he thinks Balmforth requires game time more than he's getting at Hull?..... 

I too am a touch puzzled by the Balmforth move. If it's so he can gain minutes on the pitch I would have thought there was ample opportunity for him to come off the bench here, given our current squad, so why does he need to go to France for it?


The continued impression around him is that successive Fc coaches seem to be unconvinced by him, not enough to let him go completely but not enough to give him an extended first-team run either. He's always never quite in or never quite out, as if coaches feel there is a player in there but are unable to get him functioning fully to warrant a continued spot.


I presume this is a JC decision and, as Hull 2524 says, Cartwright is the one who sees his players each day and will act accordingly. The kid shows promise but as fans we have to trust our head coaches instinct on what is best for player and club, it's why we brought him here in the first place. 

He could have given him more game time