The hooker is on a season-long loan at York.
On loan Hull FC hooker Denive Balmforth.(Image: SW PIX)
Denive Balmforth has provided clarity on his loan move to York Knights and has also discussed his long-term Hull FC future. The hooker, still only 22 years old, is on a season-long loan deal at the North Yorkshire side, with no recall option available.
Contracted until the end of the 2028 season, Balmforth still has two and a half years to run on his Hull deal but isn’t ruling out any possibility as he gets to grips with week-in, week-out Super League action.
The lively dummy half has been ever-present for York this year and featured against Hull back in February – one of three Knights wins so far this year, with the other scalps coming against Hull KR and Toulouse Olympique. But as to whether he will fit into new Hull coach Steve McNamara’s plans for 2027 and beyond, things are still up in the air.
“I’m not sure,” Balmforth said when asked about his long-term Hull future. It’s week by week. I’m here for the year and then who knows what will happen.”
And as for communication from Hull during his loan spell, Balmforth continued: “Coaching staff not as much. It’s obviously still quite early on in the year. I get the occasional message from Gaz Ellis checking in on me. I speak mainly to the boys and my mates there.“
Playing in all 14 of York’s competitive games this year, Balmforth is finding his feet under a coach he knows well in Mark Applegarth. The hooker has also done it tough with an ongoing ankle issue but has battled on through the pain, scoring three tries in the process.
“I’m loving my time here,” Balmforth, who also had a loan spell at Catalans Dragons last year, said. “I’m really enjoying it. I’m still having to play through a bit of a pain barrier. My ankle still isn’t 100%. I did it in round one against Hull KR. I came on; I think it was around the 25-30 minute mark, and I rolled it.
“It’s much better than what it was, but I feel like I’ve not got the best version of myself yet. I feel like I haven’t really got out of second gear, to be honest, and it’s starting to get quite frustrating. I just want to find some consistency in my performances.”
Outlining his major strength, Balmforth continued: “Mash talks about superpowers in your game and I think that’s mine: my running game and when it gets quicker, which it has been this year.
“My power is my running game and being on the front foot and I just don’t feel like I’ve been able to express that as much as I’d like. There are also attributes in my game that I still need to work on defensively and that side of things. I just need to keep improving that week in, week out, but I want to start making more of an impact coming off the bench and really set a higher standard in my performances.“