HULL FC are set to make one more signing as chairman Adam Pearson lays out the club’s aim to become a Super League play-off team once more in 2024.
The Black and Whites haven’t qualified for the play-offs since 2020 – a remarkable statistic considering the size of FC.
Under head coach Tony Smith, Hull have already signed up eight new players – Jack Ashworth, Damel Diakhate, Herman Ese’ese, Jayden Okunbor, Franklin Pele, Morgan Smith, Liam Tindall and Jack Walker – but Pearson has revealed that there is one more signing to be made as he outlines the need for a larger pack.
“We wanted a younger team, and we wanted a bigger team. Since 2017 – when we had the largest pack in Super League – we’ve probably become the smallest,” Pearson told Hull FC Live.
“That’s not to the detriment of those players, as they’re working extremely hard for us and have been the glue that has held us together at times, but it’s key for us to go back to a big pack.
“We’ve made eight signings so far and there are nine to come in total. All of the forwards we’ve brought in are all six-foot plus powerhouses who can play a bit so we hope to start dominating other teams again in Super League. That was definitely a strategic identity aim.
“We felt the squad needed freshening up. A lot of players had been here a long time and that’s not to say they hadn’t done a good job, but the whole squad needed freshening up in terms of the culture, the attitude, the different energy, the different environment.
“Like his backroom team, Tony wanted to do it on the playing side. With nine players coming in, and eight from the academy, it gives a whole new feel and culture to the club.”
For Pearson, a top six spot is the minimum aim in 2024.
“That’s (top six) what we’re aiming for but we’ve got to get more consistent, so those runs of seven or five defeats, they’ve got to stop.
“If we lose one, we have to win the next and stay in the game. The league is going to be so tight and competitive around fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, so it’s important you don’t get stuck in a long losing run.
“We think that with the energy and size we’re putting into the team, that will change.”
Click here to purchase a digital edition of League Express.
Click here to purchase an online edition of League Express through pocketmags.com.
Click here to listen to our new League Express Podcast.
League Express is widely available from local newsagents across the north of England.
