AIDAN SEZER insists it’s about the present as well as the future as Hull FC bid to begin their turnaround.
After their worst ever Super League season, winning only three times last year, Hull have a new coach in John Cartwright and have signed nine players including halfback Sezer from Wests.
Other experienced figures such as Jordan Rapana, John Asiata, Zak Hardaker and Oliver Holmes have been added to the squad, with part of their brief to help nurture the next generation of Hull stars.
“You can’t really put a price on experience. You only gain it by playing a number of years,” said Sezer, who has been named club captain and is with his third Super League club after previous spells with Huddersfield and Leeds.
“We’ve got me, Rapa, Tommy Briscoe, Zak Hardaker, John Asiata. They have a lot of experience in the game and that’s only going to help the younger boys come through and develop and fulfil their potential.
“I feel some of them were thrown in last year before their time and it’s unfair for kids to have to do that. It’s a tough sport and it’s uncompromising.
“Their time will come and it’s up to us to help them and ease that transition.
“I’ve been really impressed by their application to learn and work hard. Charlesy (Jack Charles), Callum Kemp, and the boys in other positions too, they’re asking for a lot of advice and I’ll give that whenever I can. A lot of the older boys are doing the same.
“The club is in good hands if they keep all those boys together. The main thing for me is that they are really passionate about the club, they love the club, they’re Hull born and bred.”
After avoiding bottom place only by points difference last season, Hull aren’t stating any lofty goals for 2025, but that doesn’t mean players such as 33-year-old Sezer aren’t ambitious.
“For me and for a lot of the older boys, we’re not getting any younger, so we want to win games,” he said.
“We want to be as ambitious as possible. But we do also know where we’re coming from.
“We know it’s going to take time, especially with a lot of new players.
“We’re trying to get that right on the field but that’ll only come with game time together.
“As long as we improve and play to our potential as a team, I guess that’s something we can hang our hat on.”
And in Cartwright, who coached Sezer at his first club Gold Coast, Hull have a coach with two decades of coaching experience in the NRL.
“He’s always someone I’ve had the utmost respect for,” added Sezer.
“He’s a coach that you want to play for, and a coach that you don’t want to let down.”