Hull FC head to Headingley to take on Leeds Rhinos on Friday night. It’s an important clash for the Black and Whites, who are looking to end a run of three straight defeats and get their season back on track.
They face a Leeds side in good form who sit in fourth spot in Super League – a position Hull can claw back with victory.
Elsewhere, Vegas 2026 has been formally announced with the Rhinos taking on Hull KR – but the Black and Whites remain frontrunners to feature stateside in the USA come 2027. Here’s the latest notebook.
Vegas, baby!
Leeds will take on Hull KR in Las Vegas next year, with Canterbury Bulldogs also meeting St George Illawarra Dragons and North Queensland Cowboys facing Newcastle Knights.
The Robins will be the home team for the event, which has a five-year deal at Allegiant Stadium. And with two guaranteed events set to take place in 2027 and 2028, Hull remain keen to join the party.
The Black and Whites, as first reported by Hull Live earlier this year, expressed an interest to play in Vegas next season but ideally – and in the midst of a long-term rebuild – held the preference to play in 2027. That desire is now on course to be an eventuality, with Hull frontrunners to head over the Atlantic and take on St Helens.
Huddersfield Giants also voiced their desire to go stateside – and while other Super League clubs will raise interest for 2027 in the coming months, Hull and Saints are certainly in the driving seat right now.
As for the NRL, Melbourne Storm will be favourites to feature in 2027. The Storm aired their disappointment at missing out in 2026, with the NRL juggernaut potentially one of the four Australian clubs involved should the Black and Whites come to town.
Crucial block of fixtures ahead
To the present, and Hull face a huge clash at Headingley on Friday night – the first of three away games before hosting Castleford Tigers next month. Meeting Leeds Rhinos in West Yorkshire before games at Leigh Leopards and Catalans Dragons, it’s a crucial block of fixtures for Hull against sides in and around the top six picture.
And with a key discipline fix-up aired by all, they’ll be confident now of returning to the early-season heights that saw them avoid defeat in eight of their first ten games.
Airing the disappointing Magic Weekend defeat to Huddersfield, John Cartwright has given a firm assessment to his side, who know what’s needed to get back on track.
Captain Aidan Sezer explained: “That’s Carty to a T – there’s no way about it. There’s no beating around the bush. We addressed our discipline, but it’s not about looking back to two weeks ago; it’s looking forward. We’ve got an important block now, and we can take some confidence into that.
“In any walk of life, you can’t live in the past. It’s about what’s ahead of you and what you can control. What’s happened has happened. Magic is done now, and it’s about taking lessons from what’s happened and moving forward. That’s the mentality we’ve got to have as a team.”
As for the week off, Sezer added: “It was a good little reset – we’re ten rounds in now, so it was good to freshen the bodies up, debrief where we are in the season, and look forward to what is an important block.
“We’ve still got a lot of footy still to play this season, and we just want to keep improving every week. We’re a few bodies down, and we had a big block before that. We went to Magic the week before, and it was a tough one; we let ourselves down in a lot of areas, but we’ve prepped well this week, and hopefully we can produce a good performance on Friday.”
Hull sit in fifth position going into the clash. A defeat could drop them to seventh, but a win would propel them back to fourth spot.
Bumper away following
Hull’s away followings have been well documented this season. The Black and Whites took the most fans to Magic Weekend, with over 1,500 tickets sold for Headingley. With over 2,000 going to Castleford and Wakefield and well over 1,000 going to Wigan and Warrington, the Old Faithful have made themselves heard this year. And that support will be just as important against the Rhinos. A massive game awaits.