Hull FC boss John Cartwright has given his take on the club’s recruitment, with the Black and Whites announcing three signings this week.
Hull now have six signings announced for next season, with Sam Lisone, Jake Arthur and Connor Bailey being confirmed prior to this week. Joe Batchelor and James Bell became the fourth and fifth signings on Tuesday night with the St Helens pair joining Hull on three-year deals.
And, on Wednesday, Hull confirmed the addition of Harvie Hill, who will be making the move from Wigan Warriors at the end of the season having penned a four-year contract.
The East Yorkshire club still have signings to announce with ex-Leeds Rhinos youngster Joe Phillips one of those, as exclusively revealed by Serious About Rugby league, while this title also broke the news that the club were closing in on signing Arthur Romano earlier this week.
Speaking about the additions of Batchelor, Bell and Hill prior to the club’s final regular season game against Catalans Dragons, Cartwright explained what the trio will add to his squad in 2025.
John Cartwright assesses Hull FC recruitment
“I don’t really like talking about these things with the season still going for us,” Cartwright said. “There’s still a lot for us to play for here but the squad is going to change a little bit, we’ve got some players leaving and players coming in. We’ve looked to strengthen in areas where you need to be strong.
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“You’ve got to be strong through the middle of the field, those guys do the most tackles and do the most runs so they’re most vulnerable to injuries. We’ve looked to really strengthen through the middle of the field.
“We’re comfortable with what we have in the outside backs and in the halves, so it was an area that was pretty obvious to us all, that we needed to have good, strong men in the middle.”
On Batchelor and Bell, who are set to play their final home game in Saints colours on Friday, Cartwright added: “[Batchelor is] a real pro, experienced and does all the one-percenters really, really well and prides his game on that.
“He’s probably one of those ones that you won’t notice a hell of a lot unless you’re a real student of the game, but he does all the little things that nobody likes to do.
“[Bell] will be a bit of a help for John Asiata. A similar type of player and we’ve really missed that when Johnny has been unavailable this year. I thought when he became available, it was a good option for us.”
Asked about what Hill will bring, Cartwright said: “Youth, he’s had experience in a great system. His back half of the year has been very strong for Wigan.
“He’s a great size, really good fella to talk to, he seems like a really team committed man. You get guys out of good systems and that’s another area you look to when you’re looking to recruit.”
