By IAN JUDSON
JOHN Cartwright has confirmed that experienced duo Joe Batchelor and captain Aidan Sezer are expected to play for Hull FC in the Good Friday derby match against Hull KR.
For Batchelor, recruited from St Helens for this season, it represents a chance to play against his brother James in the fiercely contested rivalry.
Cartwright said: “Joe Batchelor’s one who is very close, I’m confident he will play and Aidan Sezer’s come through some tough sessions and he’ll hopefully be OK.
“Cade Cust comes back in, because of the suspension, so yes it’ll be nice to bring some fresh players in, who are not coming off that short turnaround.”
Asked if he was keeping an eye on Batchelor, about playing against his brother, he said: “Yeah, I had a little chat to him today about it.
“They’ve played against each other before but not in a derby situation, so they’re maybe just not talking to each other this week.”
Having experienced the rivalry three times last year, the head coach cuts a passionate demeanour in what is a special week for both clubs.
Talking about the much-referred to problems when John Asiata has left the field in recent games, he said: “We’ve got to be better at that.
“Speaking about James Bell, that’s what he was brought in to do, circumstances haven’t allowed us to do that at this stage.
“But it’s like any game at this stage, you sit down to review and you just look at areas where you’ve got to improve, one area where we’ve certainly got to improve is when Johnny’s not on the field.
“The problem that makes these players so good is that they are dominant, that’s why we talk about them after the game, so it’s very hard for somebody to step in and do exactly the same role.”
Speaking about the hostility his team will face at Sewell Group Craven Park, he said: “You’ve just got to look at it as a positive.
“Would you rather play in front of an empty stadium, or a full stadium baying for your blood?
“I think, to a man, we’d all rather play in a full stadium and enjoy it for what it is. It’s an enormous occasion.
“The fans are there to provide the atmosphere and the players always respond, so that’s all you can do, is go there and take that as a positive.
“It’s fantastic to play in front of a full crowd, sometimes they boo for you, especially over there, but we’re just going to enjoy the moment.”
Having been involved with State of Origin down under, how does the Hull Derby compare? “It’s no different, to be honest with you.
“You can’t get more passionate fans, than you do in Hull, no matter if the game’s a derby game.
“To compare that with State of Origin, fans at that level are just unbelievably supportive of their team and the same goes here for this derby game.
“Every one that we played last year had a bit of a different feel to it. There was the Challenge Cup, Easter Day here and towards the end of the year over there and I just thought full to the brim and just a fantastic atmosphere to play in.”
While their neighbours are the defending champions, does the fact that the Black and Whites are currently sitting above them in the Super League table bring added pressure, with that effectively being theirs to defend?
“I can honestly tell you I don’t look at the Super League table. It just gives you more headaches than what you normally get and especially when there’s sides winning and beating each other.
“If you can get on a roll and win a few in a row, that looks after itself. But it’s just important that you don’t get in a rut of losing multiple games in a row because that’s when it can sort of start dragging you down.”
Finally, the talk turned to how important the Hull-born players are this week, with mention particularly for Logan Moy after an impressive performance in the win against Catalans Dragons.
“It’s got extra meaning in it for those boys, but yeah like you said, they’re local Hull FC boys, they’ve grown up every year watching these derbies every year since they can remember and you always want to fill your side with as many local boys as you can.
“Logan, he’s had a tough start to the year with injury, and he’s only had the one reserve grade game. He had a game at Halifax, which he did really well in and he couldn’t have done any more in the game on the weekend against Catalans.
“He’s like everyone: every run he has he’s going to be better for the run. It’s a tough position to play is fullback but he’s had a run of games now, a couple of weeks of training, so he’s earned his spot.”
Does the amount of surprise results so far add to the plot of this game? “It shows you that anything is possible.
“I don’t know how many games they lost last year, and they’ve been very consistent with who they’ve been able to put on the paddock.
“And on the back of what they did last week, it looks like the Hull KR at their very best from last year. So all the travel and all the big occasions they’ve had since the start of the season, they’re all gone.
“They’re back at home, and they looked back to where they were last year.”