Hull FC set for another major signing ahead of 2024

Hull FC have made a number of impressive signings ahead of the 2024 season as Tony Smith’s project really begins to take shape.

The Black and Whites have signed the likes of Herman Ese’ese and Franklin Pele from the NRL to add weight to their pack. They have also drafted in former Featherstone Rovers playmaker and Samoan and New Zealand international Fa’amanu Brown.

But they may not be done just yet. They lost former St Helens winger Adam Swift to Huddersfield Giants and though they have signed Leeds Rhinos flyer Liam Tindall but are open to signing another outside back.

But is this still the plan? It seems the Black and Whites are biding their time to consider their options. Should one emerge clearly, the club will likely pounce. An option could very well be Lee Kershaw from Wakefield Trinity with a move to Leeds now seemingly off the table.

The club though are also putting a focus onto youth as you would expect from Tony Smith such as Denive Balmforth.

He is hoping for a big year at the club as Tony Smith looks to youth.

“The time I spent at Newcastle was really beneficial. I learnt a lot, and more importantly, I was getting consistent game time under my belt,” Balmforth said.

“But now my priorities lie wholly with Hull FC and trying to make my mark on the first-team.

“This year is a big year for me, personally. It’s my last year under contract with the club, so I’m working really hard to be able to extend my time here.

“I’m in a good place at the moment but there’s still a lot of work to be done. We’re just over three weeks into pre-season training now. It’s good but it’s tough at the same time.”

Balmforth’s strong start to pre-season training ahead of the 2024 campaign has been helped by the extra work the youngster has put in during the off-season.

He explained to hullfc.com how a month spent overseas is giving him the best opportunity to impress Head Coach Tony Smith.

“Most off-seasons, I’ve got into a bad habit of letting myself go. I’ve struggled to go out and do stuff off my own back, so I wanted to do something about that this year,” he explained.

“I thought, ‘let’s make something of this time off’. So I went to Phuket in Thailand and I did Muay Thai training twice a day for 29 days.

“It was a really good balance of training, getting in good shape and also seeing some really beautiful places early in the off-season.

“It was brilliant and I’m going to try and make that a regular thing every year. I’ve probably come into a pre-season in the best shape I’ve ever come back in, so it’s about capitalising on that for me now.”