The young Hull FC star on righting some wrongs, ruck speed, his stint at York, and getting back on track.
Hull FC centre Davy Litten.
In order to improve, you need to know where you went wrong, and for Hull FC, that was blindingly obvious at Wigan Warriors last Saturday night.
Losing the start of the game, Hull lost the physicality battle, the territory battle, and ultimately the scoreboard, and it gave them a mountain to climb. Playing on the back foot, John Cartwright’s side couldn’t turn the tide, with Wigan dominant and Hull struggling to break that stranglehold. But after a tough review, the Black and Whites have put it behind them and are ready to go again.
Hosting York Knights at the MKM Stadium this Friday night, it’s all about the response, with Davy Litten, for one, ready to avenge an ‘unacceptable’ loss with another home victory. To do that, the 22-year-old knows Hull need to start well and set a platform for the rest of the game against an opponent that will be fired up and ready for the challenge.
“They taught us a lesson, Wigan – they were very good on the night and they came to play,” Litten, speaking to Hull Live, said. “It was a bit of a reality check, but we’ve had our review, and it wasn’t a nice watch, but we’re ready now to focus on Friday night and put that behind us.
“We’re definitely better than what we showed on Saturday night and we know where we went wrong. There was just a lack of intent, but we’ve addressed the problems; you can’t just brush them under the carpet, and we’re looking forward to putting the wrongs right against York.
“Saturday just wasn’t acceptable. We need to pay the fans back now and I can’t wait to be playing back at home. We’re trying to make it a fortress this year. We got the win against Bradford, but going into York, it’s going to be a tough game, but hopefully we can get the win as well.”
One from two to start the Super League season, Hull know their physicality elements are even more important given new ruck interpretations this year – changes akin to the NRL that Litten backs – with dominant wins rewarded by officials and slowing the play the ball down more strictly penalised. It adds to the importance for Hull to nail down their first contact in defence and control the tackle, and, with the ball, carry strong and on the front foot.
“It’s definitely faster and it’s definitely faster for the game,” Litten said on the speed of Super League this year. “We’re basing it on the NRL a bit; their game is rapid, and our game has been pretty fast as well.
“It’s definitely an improvement which needed to be done. I love playing like that on the front foot and getting those quick play the balls for the boys. As a team, we’re still adjusting to it, but the more we adjust, the better we’ll get.
“And defensively, if you dominate the tackle, the referees are more lenient with it. Your first contact needs to be really good, though, and that’s something that we need to improve on after the first two rounds.
“But the actual and initial contact, if you dominate it, you can slow it down, but the way we’ve been playing and with how our contact has been, it’s been a bit tougher. You need to stay composed in that as an edge defender, and if it is getting quick, you’ve got to try to tighten it up.
“We’re adjusting to it and we’re getting there. It’s on us to train harder, take our video review sessions into account, and then put it all into games.”
For Litten, Friday’s clash against York is also a sentimental affair, with the young Hull star spending a fortnight on loan at the North Yorkshire club two seasons ago.
“I went on loan there in 2024,” Litten said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for them and I owe them a lot. I was only there for a couple of weeks but it helped me get my love back for the game. Since then, I’ve loved every minute of it, so I owe them a lot.
“They’re going to be an expansive team – there are a few players still there that I know and they will turn up to play. If we think we’ll turn up like we did on Saturday and think they will roll over for us… that’s just not going to happen.
“We’ve got to give them the utmost respect and we’ve got to turn up and start the game well and hopefully that will lay the platform for us for the rest of the game.”
Ready to get back on track, Hull will have another strong home crowd behind them, with Litten ready to pay that support back.
“This is rugby league and it’s a rollercoaster,” he added. “We’re going into this week with fresh minds and we’re a lot more hungry to prove a point. That was not acceptable last week and we all hold ourselves accountable for it. If anything, it just makes us want to go about and attack this game more. We’re looking forward to putting the wrongs right.”