Brett Hodgson opens up on his Hull FC selection decisions ahead of Sheffield Eagles clash

Brett Hodgson insists it is important to get the balance right when it comes to his team selection this weekend. The Black and Whites take on Championship outfit Sheffield Eagles in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup on Saturday and the head coach has named a strong squad for the clash.

Carlos Tuimavave is expected to make an appearance after overcoming the hamstring issue that ruled him out of the first six rounds of the Super League campaign. However, it remains to be seen whether he’ll feature in a side that closely resembles the one that beat Huddersfield Giants last time out.

Hodgson has given himself options with rising stars Charlie Severs, Harvey Barron and Aidan Burrell named in the squad. All three will be keen to get some game time, but the Australian remains wary about making too many changes, especially with Hull looking to build consistency in performance and selection.

“Guys like Charlie Severs, Aidan Burrell, Jacob Hookem, Harvey Barron are at a level now that should we be required to use them, I have trust that they will do a great job and fit into our system,” Hodgson said ahead of this weekend’s game. “That’s what is it about, it’s not necessarily about playing this weekend because we have a little bit of momentum that we need to build on as well and in no way do I want to disrespect Sheffield.

“It’s important that we do get the balance right. The other thing is that we have a number of players coming back from injury and need some minutes.

He added: “It’s constantly been two out, two in over my time here. The fact that we have a squad that went through last week relatively fit and that we can look at this week, with the exception of Carlos, it’s a pleasing scenario and hopefully we can have that