WITH the 2023 Super League season just around the corner, the majority of top flight sides will have finished their recruitment, with retention now the name of the game.
The May 1 deadline is often a focus for clubs in the first-half of the season as it is the date that players can start negotiating with other sides.
For Hull FC, it is set to be a big season in terms of nailing down first-team stars, with 15 Black and Whites players out of contract at the end of 2023 who could move to different clubs.
Those 15 players are: Denive Balmforth, Jack Brown, Joe Cator, Kane Evans, Brad Fash, Jude Ferreira, Josh Griffin, Ben McNamara, Ligi Sao, Chris Satae, Andre Savelio, Jamie Shaul, Adam Swift, Scott Taylor, Connor Wynne (option of another year)
Balmforth will be hoping for a big year after joining from the Warrington Wolves ahead of the 2022 season whilst Jack Brown enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2022.
Cator and Savelio spent the vast majority of the year out with injury whilst Fash, Sao, Satae and Wynne were some of Hull FC’s best performers last season.
Ferreira made the season-long loan move to London Broncos for 2022, with McNamara and Shaul given limited game time by former boss Brett Hodgson.
Meanwhile, Evans will be hoping for a big year in his second season at the MKM Stadium in order to impress new head coach Tony Smith with Swift and Taylor aiming for better consistency.
It’s going to be a big year for Smith and his chargers, but there could be a big turnover in players with Jake Connor already one of those leaving ahead of the 2023 season.
Interestingly, Connor was also out of contract at the end of 2023 also before signing a three-year deal with the Huddersfield Giants.
