John Cartwright has revealed that Hull FC loose-forward John Asiata put his hand up to play against York Acorn on Saturday afternoon, with the majority of Hull's senior stars instead rested ahead of the Super League opener at Catalans Dragons on Friday night.

Declaring that the player felt a 'little rusty' at Castleford Tigers in the club's pre-season game last week, Asiata, a marquee signing at the Black and Whites, wanted to get more minutes under his belt, playing the majority of Saturday's 52-6 victory in the Challenge Cup.

One of seven debuts handed out by Cartwright, with Cade Cust, Oliver Holmes, Hugo Salabio, Joe Ward, Lloyd Kemp, and Will Hutchinson all making their first competitive appearances for the club, Asiata scored a first-half try and was heavily involved, with a lot of Hull's shape going through the 31-year-old, who is largely expected to open up a new dimension to the way Hull play this season.

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Speaking to Hull Live post-match, Cartwright said: "We spoke to Johnny through the week. He felt a little bit rusty, and the only way you can get rid of that rust is by playing games. He was very keen to play. Watching the game last week, he came through really well, so it was a measured decision to play him this week."

Hull scored the first try of the game through Lewis Martin before York Acorn pegged them back. However, 46 unanswered points saw the side come through relatively unscathed, with Cartwright pleased with how his players adapted to a more direct style of play, something that clearly benefits the team playing off their new number thirteen.

"The first 20 minutes we were a bit ordinary," Cartwright admitted. "We tried to play side to side and around, which was what we did last week (at Castleford). The pleasing thing was that they realised that wasn’t the place to go. It was more around the ruck.

"John was the one to institute that. He showed the ball a bit and went strong and came up with a try. He did some strong carries through the middle of the field. That’s how you win your early-season games anyway. We’ll have a talk about that."

Looking ahead to Friday's opener in Perpignan, Cartwright added: "We'll do some homework on Catalans, but it’s always a work in progress with your key players. You just keep working on your combinations. You never get a perfect game, but we’ll keep working towards it."