Hull FC will have a big crowd behind them against Bradford – and Davy Litten has vowed to put smiles on their faces.
10:40, 11 Feb 2026Updated 12:55, 11 Feb 2026
Hull FC centre Davy Litten.
Davy Litten has vowed that brighter days are ahead for Hull FC and has thanked the club’s supporters for sticking with them in recent times.
The Black and Whites are on the other side of a tough spell that saw them finish 11th in 2024, and under head coach John Cartwright, who led them to a seventh-place finish last year, are now targeting their first play-off finish since the 2020 season.
Kicking off the 2026 Super League campaign against Bradford Bulls this Saturday evening, Hull will be backed by 16,000 fans at least, with all home areas of the lower MKM Stadium bowl sold out – barring the North Stand, which is still on sale.
And Litten, who scored the first hat-trick of his senior career at Salford in the Challenge Cup last Friday night, has paid tribute to that support.
“That’s never been in doubt,” he told Hull Live. “The west side of this city is the best side and they come out in numbers every week, especially through the tough times of the last few years.
“We had a few brighter days last year; we’re still nowhere near where we want to be as a group, but there are definitely brighter days ahead, and going forward we know they will be there. We need to put smiles on their faces now and start bringing some happiness back to this side of the city. We really appreciated that support and long may it continue.
“Hearing them sing Old Faithful and singing it ourselves in the sheds last week was great, you get bored whacking each other in pre-season; you just want to do it to someone else, but coming over on Friday, with the traffic, we really appreciate it. We know they’re coming out in big numbers for the Bradford game, so it’s another motivation to get those two points.”
Litten could also have a unique personal battle against the Bulls, going up against former FC teammate and close friend Connor Wynne. The Hull-born centre, deployed on the right edge in a pre-season game against Leeds, is in check to feature, competing with Esan Marsters and Waqa Blake for a spot in Kurt Haggerty’s line-up. It will be his 100th career appearance after first emerging on the scene for Hull back in 2019.
“I’m getting used to playing my best mates,” Litten said. “I’ve played my cousin Jez (Litten) many times now and I’m used to it. It will be a bit weird, being opposite each other, and it will be hard to avoid him, but we’ve both got to be professional and put our teams first. After the game, we’ll go shake hands and hopefully I’ll be on the winning side.”
On his friendship, Litten added: “We always pick each other’s brains. He went down to part time and he’s really grown as a person and as a player. He’s back full-time now and I’m really proud of him.
“Not many people come back after getting knocked down and knocked down and knocked down, so I’m really proud of him, but hopefully, he doesn’t have the game he hopes for here, and we pick up the two points and start the season strong.”