BEN Crooks has been told to bulk up if he wants to fight for his place and make an impact again at Hull FC.

Crooks has been at the centre of much speculation on the terraces since being left out of the side by coach Lee Radford.

The 20-year-old has not featured since the 20-16 defeat at Catalan on June 21 and has been sent to play at dual-registration side Doncaster in the Championship.

Read more: www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-FC-star-Ben-Cooks-told-bulk-want-team-future/story-21947337-detail/story.html

He needs to.

Leeds did it with Kallum Watkins a couple of years ago, seemingly locking him in a gym for an off-season - that's what needs to be done with Crooksy.

He already has the skills, attacking flare and guile any good centre needs. However, too often in both attack and defence he loses the collision with the opponent, and that's where his confidence gets shot to bits. A few more kg's will give him the confidence to run it in harder in attack & make the important tackle in defence. I was exactly the same at his age (albeit playing a much lower standard), same build, same position.

Saying that, it’s not all down to Crooks, there are noticeable problems in his play that I hope Radford is working with him on. Simple things like not running a ball in too upright, lowering your centre of gravity in the impact, and obviously his tackling/wrestling technique.

I was surprised at the start of the year that he didn't look any heavier, I expected him to bulk up for this year. What a player he would be if he had Yeamo's upper-body strength.

Ben Cooks ?

depends, some people are just built the way they are, I've spent 20 years+ trying to put on weight and I cannot (healthily) get above 12 stone, if all (B)Radford can see in him is his physical size then that's (B)Radfords limitation, not Crooks'

No , probably just eats salads.

How often do you squat?

you mean "train", I used to, 4 times a week, didn't change anything, I have no desire to be muscle bound and immobile.

my body is not designed to go above 12 stone, H E A L T H I L Y!

It's not just Radford. Crooks' lack of physicality has been an obvious issue since his first game, and needs to be addressed if he's going to become a successful SL player.

But what if he is "just" the size he is, wasn't a problem last season, so why is it this?

I'd agree to an extent, about weight gain. However Crooks family tree suggests (his old man) suggests its within his DNA that he could probably bulk up. I am not in the Pro Radford camp by any means but I hope this puts pay to those suggesting that Crooks has been treated badly as some appear to think.

You won't become "immobile" unless you train like a man possessed for a couple of years, and eat c. 4k calories a day, but I guess you've heard this all before. Do whatever works for you and your journey

because he hasn't had the man mountain that is Lineham finishing off his tackles for him, and subsequently has been dropping off the man which has destroyed his confidence.

Greg Inglis was nearly let go by the Storm after he couldn't put weight on, and he turned out okay with patience and strict planning. Hope Radders isn't just planning on sending Ben down KFC after every session.

about KFC, and I agree, theirs weight, and theirs healthy weight. Do FC have a nutritionist?

There was also a mention of a "niggling" groin injury since pre-season - this won't have helped his confidence.

It's a bit like a dodgy hamstring - trying to avoid over stretching doesn't, in practice, help your game.

Actually he did have issues with his defence last season but a lot of them were covered by having Lineham outside him. And it was less of an issue when he was scoring tries for fun - again, in partnership with Lineham.

He doesn't need to try and get enormously bigger, just a few more kilos and some upper body strength improvement should do it. Pearson referred to this in his interview so it's been worked on for a while now.

Just a shame it wasnt Crooks on the end of that intercept on Thursday night instead of Whiting.

but was young player of the year in.............................

Doesn't matter how often you train, you don't eat enough, simple as that.

There's absolutely no reason why you should be stuck on 12 stone if your diet and training are right, most people throw some weights around and expect to get bigger, however you don't grow in the gym, you grow when you recover and if the nutrition isn't there your efforts in the gym are utterly pointless.

I eat what I need to eat, far too many people eat WAY more than they need.

I still think he was treated harshly at the beginning of the season to be honest. In and out of the side and seemingly a scapegoat. It wasn't just Crooks but Arundel too and then on the other side of the field we had Yeamo who seemingly could do no wrong no matter how bad he played (just for the record I think he's been in great form recently). From the outside looking in something didn't seem right there. But maybe the problem was more about how the club handled the fans and media, not Crooks himself. If the issue with Crooks was always a "niggling groin problem", confidence and the need to bulk him up then maybe the club should have said so all along instead of just dropping him after a game with no explanation.

Interesting to note that all our tries conceded last Thursday night were all on the side of the field where Crooks would have played so I'd say that it's always been a collective issue there rather than an individual issue.

I agree that Crooks could do with bulking up and that it should help with the defensive aspect of his game. Attacking wise he's got ability in spades. Get his defensive work improved and he's going to be unstoppable. Should that not be possible though (as some have said with certain people it's just not possible to bulk up) I still think he's got a great future ahead of him.

More interested in his GF than getting down the gym and having a RL career.

His GF may well be with him for life...

family first, always.

Quite.... if thats the case, i wouldnt even offer him a contract renewal ,
also if offered a contract, What message does that send out to the whole squad??

If his GF is to be with him for life, why potentially ruin a 15 year career?