The young winger is rising through the ranks at Hull FC.
19:40, 27 Feb 2026Updated 09:07, 01 Mar 2026
Hull FC winger Elliot Middlemas. (Image: Dave Lofthouse, Hull FC)
Being sized up by Bevan French is a frightening prospect for any rugby league player, never mind a teenager looking to make his mark in pre-season, but that was the case for young Hull FC winger Elliot Middlemas when going up against Wigan Warriors last month.
Lining up for the Black and Whites at the Brick Community Stadium, the teenager capped a strong pre-season for Hull, having been invited to train with the first-team after impressing in the reserves setup.
And Middlemas, who represented West Hull in the NCL before starring in FC’s academy in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, didn’t let his opportunity go to waste. The speedster, on a reserves contract for 2026, scored twice against Huddersfield Giants and showcased his promise once more against the Cherry and Whites.
“Honestly I wasn’t expecting it,” Middlemas said when asked about selection at Wigan. “I was sat in the meeting room thinking, ‘Right here we are just in training. I’ve just been moved up after that week, so I’m here to do a job.’
“Then I looked at the team sheet and my name was there. It was a mix of emotions. I was looking forward to it. I was obviously nervous but it was a good experience to go into the game.
“Nerves are a part of it. They’re a big side and I remember during the game seeing Bevan French sizing me up. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen in my life, but I managed to get through it and I just focused on playing the game.”
Middlemas has goals of representing Hull in Super League one day. The winger stands well over six feet tall and has bags of pace – as his highlight reel at academy level only shows. Developing well, the goal now is to get stronger and impress in the reserves, forging a strong combination with Rio Kassim on the right edge in the side’s opening game against London Broncos.
“It means a lot to me,” Middlemas, a former Hull Wyke and West Hull junior, said on representing Hull FC. “I came to games when I was a little kid and I remember sitting in the south stand with my mum and watching players like Tom Briscoe and Kirk Yeaman when I was growing up.
“Coming through multiple clubs to get to this point makes it even more special and now when I pull on the shirt every week, I want to do a job for the boys I’m with, the players I’m playing alongside, and the coaches too – rewarding the hard work we put in during pre-season and the sacrifices we all make as teenagers, not being able to do social stuff and relationships, and putting all that into my game to harness it and get the best out of it.”
Invited to pre-season training, having caught the eye training for Danny Houghton’s second-string outfit, Middlemas added: “It’s been phenomenal. I wouldn’t have guessed it in the majority of my career, to be honest, that I’d go from foundation days on a Tuesday night to training with the first team on a Tuesday morning; it’s certainly been an astonishing journey for me.”