It’s been a different pre-season at Hull FC so far, but the gaffer is still impressed with what he’s seen.
Hull FC’s squad after a hill session. (Image: Hull FC)
John Cartwright made no secret that Hull FC’s pre-season would be ‘different’ this time round. And different it has been.
It’s been a staggered six weeks so far, with players returning at different intervals. In total, 13 have come back into training after surgeries, including those who Hull lost to season-ending injuries in the summer and, in the case of Aidan Sezer, who have had work done in the off-season.
That reality has left Hull building up their programme, but now as they near the Christmas festive period, things are stepping up, with Cartwright, big on the fitness, connection, and competitiveness of his squad once again, impressed with what he’s seen so far.
“The energy at training has been fantastic,” the Hull head coach told Hull Live. “We’ve been struggling to get 13 on 13 due to the guys coming back from surgeries but we’ve been able to start over the last week or so.
“I’m just really impressed with the competitiveness of the squad and how fit they are at this stage of the year and the way that they are gelling again. We’ve made some strides last year there with our connection and I think that’s continued this pre-season. It’s such a big part of the game.”
Looking to improve on 2025, Hull, who will have almost a fully fit complement of players come the new year, are determined to go one better next season and get a finals finish. That serves as their motivation, not that the fuel to the fire needed any poke with Cartwright in charge.
“It’s always there, that desire and hunger,” Cartwright, ready to attack his second year at the club, explained. “It never goes, even if you’re the Premiers, and it’s a big reason why we’re all involved. We want to win. That will be the same for however long I’m at the club.”
Opening up on the 2025 season, the coach continued: “There were a lot of things to like, but at the end of the day, we’re probably a little bit disappointed that we didn’t progress a little bit further in the competition.
“I thought we set ourselves up well for three quarters of the season to make a real challenge for the finals but through one thing or another, we just ran out of depth. Our depth really tested us towards the end of the year, but in saying that, if we won another two games, we’d have been playing finals.
“We’re happy that we have improved from the year before but we’re still a little bit disappointed that we didn’t go further.”
To do just that, Hull have recruited eight new faces – from Sam Lisone, Jake Arthur, Joe Batchelor and Arthur Romano – with Cartwright believing Hull now have that depth to take them to the next level, with the impact already telling.
“Our recruitment has really helped our depth,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of guys at that 30-plus age and then we’ve got a lot of guys who are 25 and under.
“We needed to add more experience just to progress our younger fellas on. I think we’ve been able to do that. They’ve all impressed so far and they’ve all brought to the club what we expected them to bring.”