27 May 2023 , 16:00
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There was a point where Hull FC’s Jake Trueman thought he might never get back on the field.
So there’s little surprise the silky stand-off is running around with such a big smile on his face. He ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Castleford last July.
After an arduous ten month road to recovery, Trueman plays the fourth game of his comeback with his new club when they visit Salford today. But the 24-year-old feared he might struggle to return.
Trueman, a Great Britain tourist after emerging as one of Super League’s brightest young talents, recalled: “There were a couple of times like that. The hardest bit was when it got to four or five months and I was just doing the same rehab stuff every day. You feel like you’re making no progress.
"Then you have setbacks - it is a big operation so you have problems along the way - and it is quite lonely. But it does feel good when you do get back playing. Really good. I’m really enjoying it.”
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And resurgent Hull hope to now notch up a fifth successive win. Trueman’s return to action coincided with them emerging from a worrying seven-match losing sequence. Red-hot Salford walloped them 60-14 in that run and he said: “This is a big challenge to see where we’re at.
“Salford are a good team. They put 60 on us in March and are a really good attacking team. It will be a good test to see where our defence now is. I feel like we’re coming together as a team. And the most pleasing thing is our defence. We were shipping points earlier in the year but we’ve strengthened up now. It was always going to take time with new systems that Tony (Smith) wanted to bring in and we’re slowly getting to grips with them.”
Jake Trueman in action for Castleford Tigers in 2020 (Getty Images)In-form Aussie scrum-half Jake Clifford has also been a terrific acquisition from Newcastle Knights. Trueman added: “He’s been a great signing for us. He’s probably a complete half-back: he’s big, strong, can, run, kick and pass. He can do it all.
“He’s really good to play with and getting Tex (Hoy) back at full-back last Sunday was great. Hopefully we can build on those combinations and create some points for the team.”
Hoy is the third of new boss Smith’s big recruits for 2023 and with that spine now firmly in place, the boss will be hoping for big things. Meanwhile, Trueman, who signed a three-year deal, made his first return to Castleford on Sunday. He created two tries in a 32-8 Challenge Cup win.
Trueman scored 31 tries in 102 games for Tigers, winning the 2018 Super League young player of the year and playing at Wembley in a Challenge Cup final.
He admitted: “It was weird going back. Very strange. I met the Hull squad at the ground so I drove over, walked in on my own and seeing all the Cas lads there was strange. But it was another good day.”