Taylor is predicting good things to happen at Hull FC.
Scott Taylor believes the changes implemented by Hull FC CEO Richie Myler and co. have sprung the club forward this year – with the former Black and Whites prop saying he wouldn’t be ‘shocked’ if the side are competing for the top four next season.
The Black and Whites have enjoyed a significant year of improvement this year, and going into the final Super League regular season round, they are still within a shout of finishing in a top six position.
Obviously they need to defeat Catalans Dragons and then hope Wakefield Trinity slip up to achieve that, but regardless of what happens this week, Taylor says fans should take comfort in the progress made and the trajectory on show.
The two-time Hull Challenge Cup winner, who played eight seasons with the club, has put many facets down to that progress, namely Myler, new co-owner Andrew Thirkill, head coach John Cartwright, new player signings, and another member of staff: Andy Last.
Last returned to the club after four years away at various Super League clubs, but in bringing some ‘Hull identity’ back to the training ground, Taylor has stated he has helped change the culture and environment this year – with pride the main emotion no matter how the end of the season, which has been disrupted by injury and suspension, goes.
Speaking to Hull Live, the current Goole Vikings head coach said: “This year it was all about improvement. It’s been a frustrating time for the fans and the club for the last four to five years but we’ve seen Richie Myler and Andrew Thirkill come in and orchestrate some massive changes. Bringing in John Cartwright, getting Andy Last back to the club, and some of the signings they’ve made – it’s all been positive.
“But I know the current frustration with how many lads are injured and they’re so close to the play-offs. However, I think if you sat every Hull FC fan down at the end of last season and said, ‘Just so you know, with one game to go, you’re going to be one point off the top six and you’ve got a home game to go to finish the year to go into that top six,’ there wouldn’t be one FC, in my opinion, that wouldn’t have grabbed that with both hands.
“Again, it’s frustrating with the injuries and how close they are, but if you take a step away and look at it from the outset and look in at what they have achieved this year, no matter what happens now, you’ve got to count 2025 as a success and a real building block into changing things the right way and going up again as a club back to where they should be.”
And as for Last, who was part of the cup-winning squads of 2016 and 2017 alongside Taylor, the former prop continued: “For me, he’s arguably been the best signing that the club has made.
“I don’t think there’s been enough Hull identity there and the fact that Lasty came back – he’s Hull FC through and through and he’s been there during both the highs and the lows of the club; he’s come through the system, he’s been away, he’s freshened up – and what he’s added, alongside the experienced signings, are some big cultural differences which have been really good and so important.”
Taylor is also putting down Hull’s recruitment for 2026 as a key catalyst for why he thinks they can kick on next year. The Black and Whites have signed the likes of Joe Batchelor, James Bell, Sam Lisone and Jake Arthur, with Connor Bailey acquired and two more new faces still to be announced in Harvie Hill and Joe Phillips.
He added: “The recruitment for next year, where they are coming from and the systems they’ve been in and what level they’ve played at and what they have won during their careers, it’s only going up. The squad they are building going into next year – you’ve got to say you would be shocked if they weren’t competing for the top four next year. They could be that good.”