Hull FC have had a brilliant start to Super League this year, surpassing their 2024 points total already, and ‘defying the expectations’ of many which is something that head coach John Cartwright has been asked about.
Cartwright was appointed ahead of the new season with that announcement coming in the middle of the club’s torrid 2024 season, during which they only won three games in all competitions.
Under his leadership, they have already won five, albeit one against amateur side York Acorn, but the club’s record of five wins, one loss and one draw is something that very people could envision.
That start has seen them shoot to third in the table and with a favourable game against Castleford Tigers this week before they face cross-city rivals Hull KR in the Challenge Cup.
Understandably, Hull FC coach John Cartwright was asked if the club are ‘defying expectations’ but the Australian gave a calm and grounded answer, which perhaps helps to sum up why the club have had such a quick turnaround.
John Cartwright’s response to Hull FC ‘defying expectations’
Credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Speaking to BBC Humberside, the Hull FC boss stated: “I said it before, I never really had any expectations coming in because it was so much new and so different and coming off a year that everyone would rather forget.
“It was a case of getting through the pre-season and attack the season fit and healthy, then just seeing where we were at. It was difficult for me to have any sort of expectations of where we were going to be.”
Despite his lack of expectations, one thing was clear to Cartwright and that was the quality of the squad he had assembled, something which others had doubted. However, so far, signings such as Aidan Sezer and John Asiata in particular, as well as the likes of Jordan Rapana and Zak Hardaker have helped to make a huge difference.
Cartwright added: “It was all new to me but I knew the quality of player that we had and if we could get them fit and keep them on the field that we would compete.”
He could lose signing Cade Cust this week due to a hip injury with the Hull FC boss conceding that will be a late decision when he provided his injury update.
“Winning becomes a habit” – John Cartwright assesses Wakefield Trinity win
Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Hull FC head into Round Six of Super League sat third in the competition, only behind Leigh on points difference but with a chance to leapfrog ahead of them when they face Castleford Tigers on Thursday night.
It’s another away trip but the Black and Whites have just come back from West Yorkshire with two points having beaten Wakefield Trinity, a game that Cartwright revealed didn’t start as he had hoped which only made the win more impressive.
“Winning becomes a habit,” he explained.
“Like I said, we’re only very early into the season but it was a funny week and the game sort of started the way that we hoped it wouldn’t start where they had a lot of momentum.
“It’s a difficult time to play in this part of the year where the night games are very dewy and very slippery, very greasy and it’s hard to play good attacking footy. So a lot of the games that we play in are going to be like that until the weather comes up and we get some day games.
“There was a lot going against us going into the game. I thought we managed the bad times really well. We hung when we had to and then we scored some tries when we had to.”
That 16-12 win marked the third of the season in Super League, matching the 27-game total from last year in less than a fifth of the games, underlining the huge turnaround that has happened under the Australian’s coaching.
