Cartwright led the Black and Whites to a seventh-placed finish, three points off a play-off place, last season.
He said that they had cancelled last Tuesday’s training session after he told the team about his exit.
“There was a pretty emotional meeting when I addressed the players,” he said.
“The coaches left the room and the players decided to stay. In all honesty it wasn’t the type of atmosphere where a training session would have been of any value so I decided to call the day off.
“They needed to go and chat amongst themselves. I haven’t asked what was said, it’s not my business. I think they had some grievances that they wanted to talk about and I don’t know if they have been addressed either.”
The former Gold Coast Titans head coach said that despite his own situation he would not allow the season to be “wasted”.
“We’ve got to make sure we win as many games as we can,” he said.
“It’s ridiculous to waste a season. We’re sitting two points out of the top six.”
Ninth-placed Hull FC next welcome Challenge Cup semi-finalists St Helens on Thursday.