From Hull and back: Will Pryce finds himself as return ‘home’ sees full package emerge

Will Pryce on mixing his game up, his big improvement, and Bradford Bulls warning.

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Will Pryce has travelled here and far over the last two years, but it’s at Hull FC where he’s now at home. The lively full-back, ready to begin his first full season at the Black and Whites, has found a sense of belonging and a purpose in East Yorkshire after swapping NRL outfit Newcastle Knights for a return to Super League – and to Hull – last April.

In fact, the 23-year-old, who grew up around the club while his dad Leon was playing here, now resides in the region, is fully settled in, and is determined to take his game to the next level.

And under John Cartwright, Pryce believes he can do exactly that, with the head coach finding the player’s role in the team and ensuring his quirky and, at times, ad-lib game flourishes on both sides of the ball.

“Carty has been great for me,” Pryce, speaking to Hull Live, said. “He has helped me mature as a player, found my role in the team, brought it into the system, and made my life a lot easier.

“Players like myself, we’ve probably got a bit more natural ability, and it can be hard at times to play your natural game as it doesn’t fit into systems. A lot of people like to say, ‘Just let them play their own game and play eyes-up rugby,’ but that never really happens sometimes; coaches say they want to do it, but they don’t, whereas Carty does.

“He wants me to be the best version of me and he knows how to get that. The players around me, like Seze (Aidan Sezer), John Asiata, James Bell, Jake (Arthur), and Amir (Bourouh), take the reins in terms of our system, and then Carty lets me be myself.

“It just makes my life so much easier. I can pop into the line, play in the line, and pop out of the line. I can just be myself. I enjoy it so much. That’s what helps performance. I’m not wearing a mask here. But evidently everyone here wants to win competitions; whatever team you’re on, they all want to win something, and we’ve got to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be.

“It’s all been good fun so far. Obviously, it takes time to build those combinations and I’d be lying if I said everything was perfect now because it’s not, and it never will be perfect, but there’s definitely been improvement after Christmas, where we’ve tried to knuckle down more on positions and how we want to play as a team. It’s exciting.”

Relishing the attacking side of his game, Pryce also knows it’s not all about the spotlight. Working hard on his fitness and his defence, the full-back, who suffered a hamstring tear and broken foot last year, has been knuckling down and is determined to get to grips with hard work.

“This year it’s about those effort areas, the areas that some people don’t see but your teammates do,” Pryce continued. “It’s not just about scoring and setting up tries. Those are great, don’t get me wrong, but I want to make the one-on-one tackle at the back and I want to work hard. I want to dig in and be the player everyone wants to play with.

“It’s been a long three or four months of training, and it’s exciting now. I’m looking forward to playing. You get little niggles here and there, and sometimes, training, being day in and day out, you don’t look past the next day, but it’s been good fun.

“For me personally, being out for so long, I’m just looking forward to being back out there with the boys and getting amongst it. I can’t wait to get going.”

Pryce will look to do just that against hometown outfit Bradford Bulls in Hull’s Super League opener this Saturday night. The Hull ace is Bradford born and bred, but it was Huddersfield Giants he elected to join at academy level, and there’ll be no love lost when he steps out onto the MKM Stadium turf.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how we go against them,” Pryce added. “It’s going to be tougher than people expect; a lot of people are trying to write them off straight away, which is probably not how you deal with Bradford as a city.

“Obviously I’m born and bred in Bradford, and it’s exciting to see them back in Super League, but there are a couple of mental notes and bridges left up there that I won’t talk about here, but when it’s game time, they’ll come out. They’ll be remembered. When we play against them, I’ll be ready to go.“