To be fair haven’t they followed him everywhere he’s been? I’d say it’s more than a tenuous link he obviously has a good relationship with both players and families. I do agree though that now both players are becoming established in SL it’s unlikely they’ll just leave for Rovers on the basis of who they’ve appointed as academy coach.

I thought Staveley was with us before riding joined?

I always assumed both came with Riding from Warrington but honestly could be wrong on that.

Not sure about everywhere, they had academy connection.
Balmforth would be 4th choice hooker, unless kr release one of their new signings or litten.
Staveley as good as he is would be behind quite a few good back rows too.

McIlorum is on a one year deal and Leyland has never played a SL game and will only have one or two years max of championship appearances, both only young but you’d easily have Balmforth ahead in development at the moment.

Rovers will certainly make a move and likely have already, especially if he starts the season well we’ll have a battle to keep him, up to us to make him a good offer if we see fit. We’ll just have to wait and see just hope he has a big season for us and whatever happens after will happen.

I'd hope from what I've seen of Balmforth in terms of his ability when he's played that we've already made him an offer if he's taken and is taking care of his conditioning etc. JC seems to like him and hopefully Balmforth will like being under a Coach of Cartwrights standing and will sign a deal. With Abdul being released both Balmforth and Bourouh have a great opportunity to cement spots in the 17.

Balmforth is in pole position to nail down a starting position in the FC team for many years and could be in it for many years if he takes his opportunity.

If he went to Rovers, he will definitely be behind Litten for 1st team selection, probably behind Mcllorum until he leaves and vying with Leyland for the 3rd hooker roles when the other 2 aren`t available.

He would be a fool to move there if he has a decent contract offer off FC.

I hope they do as he’s 37 now but can’t see Rovers offering Mcllorum a new contract unless he’s does something really special.

He's probably already signed for rovers

People have been saying that for two years.

Hooker is wide open at Hull. Bourouh has the 9 shirt, but I don't see him as having the starting berth nailed down by any stretch. Balmforth could make the spot his own with a good run of performances. It sounds like he's really put the work in during the off season. He and Cartwright seem to have a good relationship, the investment must be exciting for the players when they see the improvements in facilities etc.

If he goes to Rovers he's back to being a squad player, at least for now.

Unless Rovers are throwing a lot of money at him (which seems unlikely) then it shouldn't be too hard of a sell to get him to stay.

Just checked the timeline

Nick Staveley signed for Hull in April 2021
Pete Riding joined Hull in January 2022
Denieve Balmforth signed for Hull from Warrington in March 2022