Four Hull FC backs have their sights set on England.
Hull FC’s flying wing duo Harvey Barron and Lewis Martin.
John Cartwright believes four of his young Hull FC backs have ‘the ability and the make-up’ to play for England. The Black and Whites quartet Will Pryce, Harvey Barron, Lewis Martin, and Davy Litten all have ambitions to play on the international stage one day, with the head coach backing them to do so.
However, Cartwright has stated it’s all about getting the reps on the board at club level first and ensuring that Hull are in as strong of a position as possible in the Super League – something which will aid their chances of selection in the future.
Still early on in their careers, Pryce has 61 first-class appearances to his name, with Martin having 56, Litten 49, and Barron 43. And in Cartwright’s view, it’s that experience they need to keep picking up in order to get themselves into the fold, while helping get Hull up the table following last season’s seventh place finish.
That reality is crucial, both for the club’s own development, and for the players’ hopes – with England, still to appoint a new head coach after Shaun Wane’s exit last month, heading to Australia for the Rugby League World Cup this autumn.
“They’re four very young boys, but they are multitalented,” Cartwright said. “They’re all at the start of their careers – three of them are only 22 years old and Lewis is still 21. There’s a thought at home that you must play 50 to 100 NRL games before you’re considered a solid NRL player. It’s a learning process.
“I think they certainly have the ability and I know they have the makeup too, as far as they work really hard on their game. I know they want to represent their country and play at the highest possible level. They certainly cover many areas.
“A big thing for us is making sure that we compete consistently at the top level; that’s where you find most of the representative players come from, and for obvious reasons, playing semi-final and final football every year.
“For us as a club, for our players to develop, it’s very important to be playing in the big games at the end of the season and then we’ll find that those young boys will get their opportunities.”
Hull last had England representation in Scott Taylor, Jake Connor, and Jamie Shaul, who all played for the national side in 2018. Meanwhile, the likes of Ligi Sao played for Samoa and made the World Cup final back in 2022.