Hull FC’s season hit a new low at York – with the acquisition the campaign was written off months ago seemingly undefendable.
Hull FC’s 2026 season hit a new low at York.
Two years ago Hull FC were crumbling along to their, statistically speaking, worst-ever season. They won just three games all year. They suffered 25 defeats. They were getting hammered almost by the week. It was tough viewing.
It was all for the greater good, supposedly, with the club in limbo waiting for new head coach John Cartwright’s arrival. It was all meant to pick up from there. And it did. For a bit.
Hull had some good highs under Cartwright in 2025. They had fight in their performance and they restored some pride, winning just over half of their games, but this was supposed to be the year that they kicked on. They haven’t.
That expectation, hope, whatever, seems a lifetime away now. Truth be told, Hull are in a similar predicament to the one they were in two years ago, now waiting for another head coach to take over in Steve McNamara after the plug was pulled on the Cartwright experiment.
The only difference is the gritty, resilient qualities instilled into this group have seen the same massacre-like heavy defeats of two years ago avoided. But that doesn’t excuse the write-off feeling surrounding the year, nor the frustration that feeling brings.
Like 2024, this season has seemingly had a line drawn on it, with McNamara getting the wheels into motion behind the scenes for 2027. It’s very much jam tomorrow.
It’s extremely hard now to argue against that statement. Hull, despite losing Will Pryce to injury and Liam Knight (personal reasons), never got a sufficient replacement over the line. They never, through whatever reason – caution, resources, or because they deemed there were no viable options – truly put the same quality back into their squad to make the 2026 campaign a challenge.
When the writing was on the wall for Cartwright, they got the McNamara deal done quickly – with the former tasked with riding out the season. That, at the risk of the understatement of the year, didn’t work out.
But in terms of salvaging the 2026 season, it’s hard to back any claim that the club was genuine in making a proper fist of it. Only loan signings have been brought in – barring the now-permanent capture of Ethan O’Neill this week, who effectively replaces another outgoing player in Jed Cartwright. It’s not what we all expected when the scope was discussed to turn what was a devastating blow with Pryce’s injury and Knight’s release to something positive.
The Knight situation itself was a farce, with indications he was unsettled coming before Christmas. It was insisted he’d be okay and ready to battle the year out, but that wasn’t the case. No hard feelings to Knight; he’s human – and family comes first. But it’s naivety again on the club’s part.
Some won’t like hearing this but the 2026 season has been a disaster. From the staggered nature of pre-season, which saw several operations on niggly and sometimes serious injuries and key players not training until the new year, to the new ruck rules and waiting what seemed an age to get a foothold while playing under them, to the hefty injury totals that have helped derail another year.
You reap what you sow. Hull were undercooked massively going into this season – and what’s transpired since has been the soap opera drama we thought we would see no more of.
Of course, the club are trying to rectify it in what is coming in for 2027 – but there’s no short-term respite. It’s all for next year. Jam tomorrow, the cynics will say. But big changes are coming. McNamara is going root and branch. He is making hefty backroom appointments and ensuring a proper football department in terms of medical, conditioning, and coaching is in place. There’s no stone left unturned on those fronts.
And given that Hull’s injury realities have crippled them again this year, it’s the most essential thing to try and get this club back where it keeps promising to be. It’s the best chance to match that aspiration with reality – with recruitment coming next, and that’s something that Hull just need to be better at. But in the meantime, you can begrudge no one for thinking that 2026 has been a write-off.
The York defeat compounded that feeling. It was a new low of a season that has seen plenty of lows. It was woeful. It was, to be honest and frank, pathetic. Hull were an ill-disciplined rabble that turned up for 20 minutes and thought that’d be enough to win a game of Super League. Newsflash. It’s not. And up against a passionate and crafty York side, they got what they deserved.
They need to do some soul searching now and get their attitude on point. Attitude was the buzzword all week. But clearly speaking about it and following words up with action are two different things. That was a new low.
But some things were nothing new. Hull with the ball weren’t good enough. They have the second worst attack in the league. The issues have been there all season for a side heavily reliant on Asiata’s shape and Pryce’s X-factor. Without them, it’s tough viewing.
It says a lot for the structural dynamics of the team and for all the progress in terms of grit, resilience, competitiveness, etc., last year, there are streets still to go to make this group easy on the eye.
They play in flashes, or moments; cue the second half of the first half, but it’s not enough. Hull don’t kick on. They haven’t got the quality to be ruthless and pull away from a side. That’s been evident all season.
Hull remain competitive. The qualities instilled over the last 18 months ensure that. And defence keeps them in the game. But it only goes so far. Discipline-wise, Hull continue to kill themselves. The penalties given away at York were pathetic. They didn’t give themselves a chance. They played dumb – to put it bluntly.
It doesn’t get any easier, either. There’s a third of the Super League season still to go. Nine games. And two months that will no doubt see some more tough days unfold. There’s no easy way out.
The 2026 season has descended into a mess while preparations continue for 2027 to try and rectify it. But the promise that next year will all be different is waving thin.
Hull are in a position they promised they’d never be in again. Some players are surplus to requirements and offered to other clubs. There are a lot of moving parts at play, and seemingly, there’s a long road ahead. It really is the hope that kills you.