COULD this be the season when Hull FC rise into the top four?
Hull were firmly fifth out of five last season but they did push most sides all the way and actually remained unbeaten against Halifax, recording a win and a draw.
Initially, they will be targeting Sheffield and Edinburgh when they face those two newly promoted sides, but if they can turn a few of their narrow losses from last season into wins, then a top four place could be theirs this season.
Head coach Mike Swainger has brought in four new players to boost his existing squad.
Nathan Sherwood says… I’m looking forward to the season ahead and putting everything that we have done in pre-season into action. There’s more games this season with Sheffield and Edinburgh coming in and l’m looking forward to facing those as we haven’t played them before. My hopes are to be more consistent in my performances on the pitch and contribute to the team. We want to be in the play-offs especially with us just missing out last year.
Squad: 1 Mike Swainger, 2 Justin Wells, 5 Billy Swainger, 6 Nathan Sherwood, 7 Liam Stancliff, 8 Tristan Norfolk, 9 Rob Smith, 10 Kev Edwards, 11 Josh Edwards, 12 Lee Blakeston, 13 Steve Sampher, 14 Mike Midgley, 15 Mark Bottomley, 22 Joe Bottomley, 44 Devon Smith
Rugby League World predicts: 5th