Jake Connor says staying at Hull was an easy decision to make.
The exciting England and Great Britain international back, who moved from Huddersfield in 2017, has signed a two-year contract extension.
Connor, who has mostly featured at fullback under current coach Brett Hodgson, has scored 33 tries in 115 games for the Black and Whites, whom he helped to a 23-22 win in Saturday’s home derby against Hull KR.
The Halifax-born 25-year-old, who had been sidelined since picking up a knee injury when playing for the Combined Nations All Stars in their win over England in June, explained: “Staying at Hull was an absolute no-brainer for me.
“It was an easy decision to sign. It never got to a stage where I wanted to look elsewhere, I always wanted to stay here and didn’t really speak to anyone else.
“I’ve been here for five seasons now and wanted to extend that longer.
“The ultimate aim for me is to win silverware. I think, under Brett, we’ve played some really good rugby this year and we’ve got the squad to kick on and improve.
“When we’ve had the full team on the pitch we’ve played well, and we’re getting some bodies back at a vital time for us to put a good run of form together.
“Everyone wants to get to a Grand Final and we’re no different, and I feel like we’ve got the squad to do that over the next few years and we can continue to improve.”
Hodgson, who has already seen winger Adam Swift and forwards Joe Cator, Brad Fash and Tevita Satae agree contract extensions, said: “Jake is an extremely talented player who is absolutely pivotal to any success we have as a team.
“He has worked extremely hard at improving areas of his game, which is really pleasing to see.
“He has that skill that very few players possess. And his talent means that opposition players have to worry about him, which in turn creates space for his teammates.
“Finding that consistency has been really important for him this year. He is valuing aspects of the game a lot more now as a fullback in terms of the off-the-ball areas.
“On the ball, he’s always been a talent, he just needed to get the ball in his hands a bit more, which we have seen this season.
“He is an enormous competitor who hates losing, and will do anything to make sure we come away with the win.”
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