John Cartwright has highlighted his number one thing to take out of Hull FC’s young players at Castleford Tigers: their bravery.

The Black and Whites ran out 16-10 winners at Castleford Tigers on Saturday afternoon, with a young side holding their own in the second half. Defending tough, Hull showed their togetherness, digging in as one to keep their line in tact.

That element pleased Cartwright, who was impressed with the spirit and resolve shown to hold Castleford out. The Aussie head coach started the likes of Logan Moy and Harvey Barron, with Lewis Martin, Callum Kemp, Lloyd Kemp, Ryan Westerman, Will Hutchinson, and co. then coming on after half-time.

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Speaking post-match, Cartwright said: “I just love their bravery. The twins (Callum and Lloyd Kemp) were tremendous. Logan (Moy), I saw a fair bit of him last year. He’s as brave as they get. The two wingers, Lewis (Martin) and Harvey (Barron), were both strong and gave what I thought they would do. Ryan Westerman was great. Will Hutchinson was great. There's a lot to like there.”

With a long season ahead, Hull are expected to keep handing out opportunities to their young players, whom Cartwright branded the ‘long-term future’ of the club. However, there is also a caution to not blood them too soon, with Hull’s youngest talent needing to serve an ‘apprenticeship’ first.

“There’s young and there’s young,” Cartwright added. “Some of them haven't turned 18, 19, or 20 yet, so they need to be playing.

“It's great to give them a taste of it. There's no doubt that they are the long-term future of the club, but to get them to the point where they are the Zak Hardaker's, the Aidan Sezer's and the Jordan Rapana's, they've got to do an apprenticeship, and that's hard footy against men. That was a really good start.”