The awards keep on coming, but Hull FC winger Lewis Martin is only focused on improvement.
Lewis Martin may be a Super League Dream Team winger, the Super League’s top try scorer, and Hull FC’s Young Player of the Year, but there’s only one thing on his mind: improvement.
For the 21-year-old, it’s all about getting better, and in every facet. Scoring 32 tries in 30 games in all competitions this year, the Hull-born flyer is now focusing on perfecting a crucial area of every modern-day winger: backfield carries.
It’s one Martin is already quite good at. Looking to attain the targets set by John Cartwright, he sits sixth and eighth in the entire competition for carries and metres made, but there’s one winger above him on the charts who he looks up to: Hull KR winger Tom Davies.
“He’s the man who gets Rovers going,” Martin told Hull Live. “He helps them massively, getting them going forward early in their sets, and he’s the one we single out every time we play them. That’s where I want to improve and get to his level.
“Try scoring; it’s nice, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. The game is changing, and John is massive on the backfield. He’s got both me and Harvey (Barron) working hard together and we’re aiming for 15/20 carries a game and over 100 metres.
“We’ve done that at times this year, and really, that’s been our biggest improvement from last year, but I still think I’ve got a bit to improve on it as well. That’s where my focus is.”
To do that, Martin is aiming to bulk up this autumn and winter. He continued: “I’ve got the legs, but I want to put a bit of weight on top now and get a bit better. Hopefully, I’ll then be a bit more of a handful in those carries. That’s the challenge now.”
Setting his own goals, Martin’s rise has been aided by an increase in professionalism at the club. It’s been driven by players like Aidan Sezer, with another big pre-season now needed to ensure the squad get to where they want to be, both physically and mentally.
“Playing with boys like Aidan, they talk loads, and technically, they bring it up another level,” Martin said. “They are so professional as well and we didn’t get that last year. That’s the big one.
“It’s the little things. You’re not just a professional at Hull FC; you have to be professional at home with your eating and then when you go out. But in pre-season, we did everything at 100%, whether that was our gym, our weights, our running, or our recovery.
“There was no slacking off; as if it hurts you, it hurts the team, so everyone bought in and we showed that in every game we played. We gave 100% and we all worked for each other. We need to do that again now.”
And if those hard yards are put in, then Martin, who was a key part in Hull’s rise this year after a dismal 2024 season, knows the team will reap the rewards. He added: “To think where we’ve come from and to be sat here now, it’s crazy.
“It’s disappointing not to be in the six, as we were in there for most of the year, but to take it down to the last game and again from last year and the way we have come on as a team, I can’t fault anyone’s effort or anything like that.
“There were a couple of games we can look back on and say we should have won that but then there are games where we weren’t expected to win and we did win. It’s been a season of ups and downs, but it’s been positive. I’m excited for what’s ahead now. There are some new boys coming in and some new recruits. It’s all exciting.”