The Hull FC duo have been on the radar but they know they must improve a key area.
Hull FC’s flying wing duo Harvey Barron and Lewis Martin.
Andy Last has laid out the challenge for Hull FC’s future England hopefuls – in particular Lewis Martin and Harvey Barron.
The wing duo were both in the conversation for the national side last year, with both players now tested by Last to kick on and reach that next level.
Returning to the Hull side last month, Barron is building his form up again after injury, while Martin is hoping to make his comeback against Wakefield this week after three games out with an ankle issue.
Receiving extra attention this year, both players have been targeted by opposition teams after breakout 2025 seasons, but Last is backing them to ride the wave and hit top form again in the future – with the duo holding the ambition to play for their country one day.
The first England train-on squad ahead of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup was announced on Tuesday with no Hull players included, and Last wants to see members of his side determined to not only break through at the Black and Whites but also onto the national scene as well.
“I’d like to think anyone who is English is thinking about playing for England,” Last said. “You shouldn’t be just rolling up for Hull FC and thinking I just want to be a first-team player for Hull. That lacks ambition.
“You should be saying I want to play for Hull and I want to play for my country. That’s the same for any player. It should be ‘I want to be a Super League player but I want to play for my country.’
“I’m hopeful that one or two of our players will be looking at England and thinking I’m capable in my best form of representing my country and that’s something that should be motivating them.
“There were one or two guys that were spoken about last year – I know that from being part of the England setup last year that the likes of Lewis Martin and Harvey Barron were spoken about when we were talking about selections and they were on the watchlist.
“But when your team isn’t winning and your form isn’t great, the coaches aren’t looking at the teams at the wrong end of the table, so we need to make sure that we pick up some form and pick up some wins, and then England selections come on the back of individual performances being at a top level. We probably haven’t had enough of our players who are available for England playing at that top level.”
Laying the challenge out for both players, Last pointed to the work in the backfield. He told Hull Live: “Lewis burst through last season and scored a lot of tries and got on the end of a lot of plays, and this year, probably Harvey and Lewis have come in for a bit more attention from opposing teams.
“I think both of them are a work in progress in terms of fulfilling their potential. They need to be better out of the backfield. The modern-day winger; it’s so important that they get the sets started and don’t get dominated on their early plays. Lewis and Harvey are working physically on that and working technically on that.
“Lewis certainly needs to improve that area and he’s aware of that. Harvey’s area of improvement is the height he goes into collision. Sometimes he goes in a bit too upright. He makes metres because he is a big, strong thing, but we need him to start winning more collisions on the floor and leaving blokes on the ground, leaving those markers disrupted, and getting to the ground and up more quickly and more effectively.
“He’s certainly capable of doing that. He’s got that grit and that determination to carry the ball and he knows he has to do that.”
Pointing to veteran Tom Briscoe, Last added: “They only need to look at Tom Briscoe – that’s one of his biggest strengths. He bends the line back on a consistent basis and those markers are never set because he is so strong. That is where Tom is adding to our team with how destructive he is out of the backfield.”