Andy Last on Hull FC’s 2026 season, a future head coach role, and self reflection.
Hull FC coach Andy Last believes he will be better for his 2026 experience. (Image: Dave Lofthouse, Hull FC)
Andy Last says Hull FC’s 11th-place Super League finish is ‘on me’ – and has outlined the difficulties he has faced as interim head coach this season.
Winning five of his 19 games in charge, Last was dealt a tough hand after the high-profile and messy departure of John Cartwright back in April. He had arguably his best two players, John Asiata and Will Pryce, unavailable for all of those 19 games and saw a big drop-off between the team’s best and worst performances, with a lack of consistency in performance rued.
But that’s not to say that Last, after a much-needed break, isn’t looking forward to next year as an assistant coach to Steve McNamara, also not ruling out a future permanent head coach crack – with the position long been a long-term goal of the Hull-born coach – albeit not on his radar right now.
“Probably not at this moment,” he said on those head coach aspirations. “It’s kicked me around this year, and that’s something that I’ll probably need a little bit of time to self-reflect on. I need a little bit of time away from it and just have a little bit of a moment just to take a little bit of a breath and analyse what I want to do longer term because it has been difficult.
“It’s been challenging, emotionally draining, and mentally tiring, but I love the game and I love this club. So a little bit of a breakaway to refresh and then attack next season and be the best version of myself as an assistant coach to Steve is something I’m really looking forward to and excited about.
“I’m not going to rule it out (the head coach spot in the future), but it has certainly knocked me about a bit. It’s been a difficult one, it’s been challenging, and it’s taken a lot out of me.
“The Maltesers have helped, and the Cadbury’s dairy milk has helped, but on a serious note, it’s a big job. It’s a big club, and I think there are occasions where I probably have cared a little bit too much and it’s shown itself.
“I probably do care a little bit too much and I have taken it to heart a little bit because it’s a club that I do love and I feel a huge sense of responsibility that the results haven’t been where we needed them to be and performances haven’t been where they needed to be and as a head coach of the club, you take on a lot of that responsibility and I certainly have.
“I’m gutted with the way that this season has played out. I felt as though we could have done far better than we have done and we failed to deliver. That’s on me.”
On the realities of this season, which saw Hull win eight of 27 league games, Last continued: “It is really frustrating and I wish I could put my finger on what it is, but I do think it comes down to the individuals in terms of how they go about preparing for the game, how they stay focused within a game, and how they stay in the moment within a game.
“We probably lack a little bit of mental resilience and when we face any sort of adversity during the match, for whatever reason, it shows itself in sloppiness, a 10-minute period here and there, which proves really costly.
“It’s been a horrible season because we are consistently inconsistent from week to week, from half to half. And that’s been the biggest frustration for me. When we’re good, we show that we can compete, but our best and our worst are so far apart.
“I’ve seen coaches at this club talk about how we need to get the gap between our best and worst to be closer, and that’s going to be the case again for us as a group next year. We need our best to be up here and our worst to be there. We can’t have the massive gaps in performance, which we’ve currently had this year. And if we can do that, we’ll challenge.”
But despite the challenges of the year, there’s pride from Last, who got to lead his hometown club for the second time.
“I’ve still enjoyed it,” he said. “Not many people can say they got the opportunity to coach their hometown club, however long that’s been. There have been some highs and there have certainly been some lows.
“The last spell was far more successful than this one. We didn’t play as many games. Obviously, that was a COVID year. But it’s had some different challenges and I think that’s sport in general.
“There have been some real highs and some real lows. I’ve learned a lot about myself and I’ve learned a lot about the group. For me, individually, I’ve learned I’ve got a strong character. My personality, I’ve been able to bounce into training on most days. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some days where I’ve been lower than a snake’s belly, but I’ve been able to try and lead with some energy and some enthusiasm.
“I’ve been honest and I’ve maintained a level of integrity and been able to look players in the eye and tell them where they need to improve and how we need to be better. And that’s something that I’m proud of. But the results have obviously been disappointing.
“We’ve been competitive in most games, but there’s been half a football here and there where we just haven’t been where we needed to be. There have also been some things which have been out of my control.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to reflect and not be too critical of myself because it has had its challenges, but I am a harsh critic of my own performance and I do take it personally. And that’s something which I’ll need a little bit of time to self-reflect and try and digest. But there’s been lots of lessons learned and I’ll certainly be better for this experience moving forward.”