The testimonial man has some unique habits – but they paid off when Hull FC needed them most.Hull FC’s Brad Fash celebrates victory over Wakefield.

Brad Fash is unique in his own right – and he had his own way of ensuring Hull FC broke their home duck earlier this year.

The Black and Whites had to wait until July to taste victory at home for the first time of the 2025 season, with Fash coming up trumps on what was sentimentally his 200th career appearance.

Before he lined up against Wakefield Trinity, he actually burnt sage on the MKM Stadium turf in what was certainly an unusual pre-match ritual, but it worked, with Hull coming back from 10-0 behind to defeat the West Yorkshire side 16-10.

It was a ritual – one that is thought to cleanse evil spirits – that John Cartwright confirmed to Hull Live at the time.

“He’s got some strange habits, Fashy,” Cartwright said with a big smirk on his face. “I learn something more about him every week. He’s a character, and you can never have enough of them. He’s a bit different, but it would be boring if we were all the same.”

And it’s a ritual Fash – who repeated the same process at Wigan Warriors the following week (a 32-12 victory) – has now commented on for the first time.

Speaking on Radio Humberside, Fash said: “I’m not superstitious, but if it’s put to you that it might work and you don’t do it and you lose and you’ve not done the thing that’s in your head which might work, then you feel bad – as mental as that sentence sounds.

“I had a lighter, some sage, and a little black pot I’d got off my missus so I didn’t set anything on fire. The missus bought (the sage) for me from the kind of shop where they sell witches’ hats.

“In theory, it worked. It was my 200th career game and we’d not won at home, and I was getting very upset about it, and other than training hard or preparing well for the game in my head, I needed to do something a little bit more.

“Before the game, I was in the dugout, on the pitch, walking around with some smoking green sage in my hand. My kit smelt great before I went home.”

Alongside his quirky personality, Fash has developed into a cult hero at Hull. A no-nonsense player, he prides himself on hard work and nothing less and is proudly celebrating a testimonial year in 2026, the latest of which is a Hull FC X-Factor event at the University of Hull the Friday after next, including singers from the squad and head coach John Cartwright.

Fash, who suffered a foot injury in the season finale against Catalans back in September, will also play his testimonial match against Huddersfield Giants in January at Brantingham Park and is now hoping for some further luck on the injury front after making just 31 appearances in the last two years.

“It’s been really frustrating injury-wise personally, but the last two injuries have just been freak accidents,” Fash said. “This last one, someone landed on the back of my foot and it snapped a lot of ligaments in it so I had to get them done.

“Then the previous year, it was nothing. I was running near no one, stepped near my foot and something went pop, and I had to get an operation on that.

“I’ve had operations before, come back, and been fine. I think it will happen again, and I’ll be absolutely fine, and this will be the end of it. But in terms of frustrating, when you’ve not overdone anything and done everything you should have been and it snaps, you’re like, ‘Are we for real with this?’ But it is what it is; you’ve just got to move with it and crack on.”