Would be surprised, as it stands, if Balmforth is still with us. Coaching staff not overly impressed with his engine. Sat him down and told him the 9 needs to be the fittest in the team, and he's way off. Andy last kept up with him in some training drills last week

That must be the fourth coaching set up which hasn't seen much in him.

As much as we bang on about being too sentimental, I would like to see him given a new deal, if fitness is his downfall then surely it's something that can be worked on?

If the kid has spent the off season losing a stack of weight and getting fitter but still not up to the level required as a pro sportsman, maybe his body just isn't capable of being fit enough. Not everyone has the engine of a player like houghton

Not for 2026, but wonder if we’ll make a play for Mikey Lewis when he returns from the NRL?

Think Lewis will do well there, think he is better than a few halfbacks already playing regularly in the NRL. If he gets the right team and coach his game should improve even more.

The only way he comes back, is if he gets homesick, like a lot do.

Heard the rumour that he is fully intending on going there in 2026, probably why, Rovers where trying to sign kemp from us.

If he does come back i'd love it to be with us, but we need to be in a much better place than we are now.

Fair play if he does go and tests himself, too many others take the safe option.

SL is in a bit of an odd place really, as a club if you want to bring through players to build around long term you almost don't want to produce superstars as they'll more than likely move on to the NRL. There is sweet spot where they're really good in SL but not quite good enough for the NRL.

The ambitious clubs are held back by the stragglers, the salary cap should be higher than it is to try keep the top talents in SL. They key to being successful is having a top academy, if/when Wigan lose Nsemba to the NRL, there will likely be someone from the academy to take his place

100% Steve on the academy, you can have sort term success like we did in 2016/17, or like Leigh and Rovers are right now, but the only way to have long term success is to have a top academy turning out 2/3 players ready for SL every year.

Wigan have lost a whole host of players to the NRL and also lost young players to other clubs because of the cap, but they have a ready made replacements and continued to succeed.

Saints success came from having homegrown players in key positions and adding in quality overseas players to fill the gaps, same with Wigan who have a homegrown 7 and 9, which means they can have a winger a quota player and luxury prop.

If we can get our academy to start producing two players every year, who are good enough for the 17 of top 6 side, if 3 years you should be challenging at the top.

From what I hear, there was disappointment from Coach Cartwright about some of the mindsets of the younger players - Gardiner and Jebson for example. They seem happy picking up 20k a year and walking around with Hull FC gear on - it's not the mindset of the kids who come through in Australia.

Also - Lasty and Cartwright sat down with the new owners last week and have been told they can have money if they want it. With Lasty's connections with England, he had said if he can get a Matty Lees or a Morgan Knowles, as examples, is the money there - and Thirkell said, if you get a player you want, you will get the money. So that is promising

I agree Dave and I've heard very similar about Lewis & the NRL but it wasn't a rumour, 2026 is very likely to be the year he heads over there. What I was told is that he felt 2025 would be a year too early and wanted to work on his game more before heading over there.

I left V Dock for Melbourne - we TH ought we’d be back within 2 years and 14 years later we’re still in Melbourne.
Lewis may find the beaches of Sydney a tad better than Kilnsea beach

The salary cap should only increase if income levels into the game warrant it. A sport built on being supported by wealthy individuals has no longevity.

The NRL cap is higher because they have massively more TV and sponsorship income

Can't argue with either posts, as Steve says the SL Cap should be higher to try and keep the top home grown talent but there just isn't the money in the British game to even try and raise the Cap without bankrupting the game here. Think the vast gulf between SL & NRL whilst earning potential is a factor for players, having a crack at the NRL is the pinnacle of the sport.

As Dave says you look at Wigan & even St's currently (and Leeds previously) in that they produce a lot of talent, granted not all make it at Wigan etc but they produce enough quality in their respective systems that if they lose one there is another that comes in a fills that spot. It's should be no surprise that Wigan, St's and Leeds have been the 3 dominant successful teams due to their investment and success bringing through quality home grown talent, which is then supplemented with quality overseas players.

That's why I feel there should have been more focus on youth development as part of the grading criteria, to ensure clubs started to invest more in to youth rather than neglecting it to spend alomost everything on first team. By tying youth development in to the grading it would have had a similar affect as it has with clubs getting their grounds, social media etc in order.

To be honest I'm not too surprised in regards to the apparent mindsets of some of the younger players (or even some of the more senior) in fact I'd have been more surprised if there wasn't any issue. Let's face it they haven't exactly been immersed in a professional environment or had any real leadership the past 2 or 3 years at least as everything had been so lax and casual. I think this is likely some of what Myler has been alluding too in his interviews. It's likely the new regime to many who were at the club prior to Myler & Cartwrights arrival will have been quite a shock with having expectations laid out to them and to now have full time training, then add in all the other changes be them big ones or minor ones.

What does seem to be clear is that if anyone doesn't meet those expectations as a Pro RL player at the club then they are likely to be staying at the club and that in all honesty is how it should be.

There's no surprise there. the whole club has had this attitude for years. Makes you wonder how many promising youngsters have slipped the net due to the poor environment

This is spot on. BUT, because of the parochial stance of a lot of the owners of clubs that don't invest in youth and academies, it's not given high priority.

First point is an interesting one as I imagine a HullFC starting salary is actually decent given that wages generally are very low in the city. So add in the kudos of as you say 'walking around with the club gear on' and it becomes a lazy career choice (albeit a short term one that could end when the contract ends)

I've not seen anything from Gardiner or Jebson to suggest they are worth sticking with, usually with a young player with a few games you see if they are up to it or not.

Heard similar about some of the youngsters. One in particular who made his debut last season already thinking he's a superstar and not endearing himself to some members of the squad.

There's been an element of this with our young players for a number of years, possibly even decades!
We're actually reasonably decent in producing youngsters who end up in the first-team via our youth/academy/development set-ups, youngsters who initially look promising with everyone having high hopes for them.
The problem for us, and this is where we differ from Wigan/Saints/Leeds, is that all too often they never seem to quite kick-on to become genuine SL quality standard players and after a while they seem to lose their way and end up gradually drifting out of the picture. We have a number of young players going back many years who seem to fall into that category.

The key age for young promising sports people is around 18-22, which is the age when you have to make the full transition from junior sport to full-time professional. I think, in general, there tends to be a very large drop-off in juniors who make the grade across all sports. It's those organizations that get it right more often when dealing with promising 18-22 year-olds that tend to be the more successful within their sport, chiefly Wigan/Saints in RL.

I'd agree with other posters that success in developing any promising 18 year-old is likely to be key if we are to compete at the top end again on a regular consistent basis. The likes of Moy, Charles, Barron and, particularly, Lewis Martin look like they may possibly be the real deal, but the next two years are vital in their development if they are to become stand-out fully fledged SL players.
Fingers crossed, with the new regime and far more professional coaching set-up now in place, these young kids will come through, but it's far from a given as we have witnessed too many times in the past. Here's hoping for at least a couple of wins for us in this department in the coming two years or so.

[urlhttps://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/clubs-prepare-salford-red-devils-9764574[/url

Interesting read about the Salford situation once more. For all the criticism we've given/gotten in recent years, we could have ended up in this position of uncertainty that Salford find themselves in had we not taken the approach that we did.

Players I would be looking at, I’ve tried to be somewhat realistic with who might come:

Chris Satae - non quota, would add impact off the bench. At his age and his love for Hull should be good value for a year.

Matthieu Laguerre - Rogue but probably a step up on chamberlain and still a good age.

Arthur Mourgue - Mourgue & Abdul/Jack Charles would probably suit going forward. Some question marks over his best position. Don’t think he will leave cats

Paul Séguier - would be a steady squad player who can play back or front row. I’d argue he’s better than Holmes & Lane.

Mikołaj Oledzki - think he’s carried Leeds pack and a fresh start would do him wonders. Would be a good partner for Herman.

Liam Byrne - Herman & Oldedzki with Byrne & Ashworth off the bench would have fantastic balance.

Connor Wrench - young, pace and probably better than all our centre options.

Looking at the domestic players Salford have and the areas we are looking to bolster i'd take Watkins and Bullock.

Some young kids with FC bloodlines signed up



"Bobby Hewitt, son of former Hull FC half-back Mark Hewitt, Cameron Windley, son of former Hull FC back Johan Windley, and Isaac and Jacob Last, the twins of former Hull FC hooker and current assistant coach Andy Last."

We also have Richard Horne's son and Feka's son.

The Last boys are meant to be pretty good

Good job it’s not “The lost boys”, they’d only be able to play night matches but Grandad Tony could exorcise them





I’ll get my coat.