Hull FC coach Tony Smith prepared to play waiting game over 'precocious talent' Jack Charles

Only recently turned 18, Charles – the son of former Hull Kingston Rovers player Chris – came on for an eye-catching cameo in the halves against his dad’s old club on Friday.

He was unable to help Hull rescue anything from the game other than a bit of pride, such was the size of the hole they and KR’s ruthless attack had dug for them in the first half.

But it was another notable short flash of potential and one Black and Whites fans will have clung to on the short, miserable journey home last Friday afternoon.

“I wasn’t sure whether to put him on, he’s only young and he’s not the biggest young man,” explained FC head coach Smith of the former Beverley Braves junior and Hull FC scholar, pictured.

“I wasn’t sure whether it was fair to throw him on in that sort of scoreline but he more than held his own and gave us some energy.

“But we’ve got to look after Jack, he is young and he’s not the biggest, so we’ll pick and choose when to use him and when to protect him, he said.

“I’d like to be throwing him into a team that’s in good form, rather than a team that’s not in good form and finding its way.

“He’s handling the challenges we have thrown at him so far.”

Charles’ opposite scrum-half when he entered the fray was Mikey Lewis, who had already scored one try and set up another and was on the way to winning the sponsors’ man-of-the-match award.

Five years Charles’ senior, it was Smith who helped nurture Lewis into the Hull KR team half a decade ago and he sees similarities between both players, and encouragingly for Charles’ development, the situation.

“There’s a lot of similarities, where we were at different stages and some of the holes we were fighting through to become a resilient team and a tougher team,” reflected Smith.

He added: “We forget about all those things, everyone thinks it happens overnight, but you go through a whole lot of pain to get there.

“Sometimes it’s about protecting some of those younger guys, sometimes it’s dropping them or not picking them because you don’t want to over-expose them too soon.

“You don’t want them to be on the wrong end of some bad scorelines,” he said.

“There’s all sorts of reasons to protect young guys.

“We’ve got more young guys to introduce but I’d like us to be travelling better before we do that.

“Jack has handled most of it pretty well.”

On their return to training on Monday ahead of this Saturday’s Super League encounter with Huddersfield Giants, Smith was expecting to learn the full extent of the injury suffered by Danny Houghton in Friday’s 34-10 defeat at Hull KR.

“Poor old Danny copped a rib injury and I think he’s popped a rib, so he’ll be on our injury list,” lamented Smith.

Huddersfield head into the match fresh from Sunday’s 26-6 win at London Broncos.