Steve McNamara is set for the homecoming he always wanted.
Steve McNamara will be the next coach of Hull FC.(Image: SW PIX)
What’s the old adage? It’s never dull in ‘Ull – and especially at Hull FC. Well, the old adage came to the fore this Tuesday morning with the news that John Cartwright will leave the club at the end of the 2026 season.
That, as exclusively revealed by Hull Live, will see former player and Hull-born coach Steve McNamara come in from the 2027 season as the Black and Whites’ new head coach. Obviously, that means McNamara will leave his current coaching role at Warrington Wolves, whom he joined ahead of the 2026 season to assist Sam Burgess.
The club have confirmed to Hull Live they will provide an update on their new head coach ‘soon’, with McNamara, who will head back to his hometown after first appearing as a player in 1989, landing a position he has widely been believed to have wanted for some time and been in the running for before.
A proud Hull man, McNamara brings with him some Super League pedigree. He did a remarkable job at Catalans Dragons and is the only coach to bring the French club silverware in their time in the competition, winning the 2018 Challenge Cup and the 2021 League Leaders Shield, not to mention two Super League Grand Final appearances in 2021 and 2023.
The 54-year-old also coached England for five years, making a World Cup semi-final, and had a lengthy stint at Bradford Bulls, where he won Super League as a player, not to mention stints coaching in the NRL at Sydney Roosters and New Zealand Warriors. He has been there and done that.
You could argue there’s nobody out there – Andy Last aside – who cares more about the Black and Whites. McNamara is a name very familiar to Hull FC fans after his playing and coaching careers and one, you’d imagine, will be largely well received. He is the appointment Hull believe will drive them to the next level.
However, it should not be lost the job and impact Cartwright has had in his time in charge. The Aussie will leave the club in a better position than he found it – and he deserves credit for that.
Cartwright has installed the steel in Hull that was so sorely lacking, with the side now a much more robust outfit no matter if they win, lose, or draw. The fundamental DNA of the team has changed tenfold, with spirit and grit on show no matter the result.
That was what was instructed above all else, and Cartwright, on that front, has delivered. He achieved Hull’s best finish in six years in 2025 and that should not be under-appreciated. Hopefully, that continues for the remainder of the year before McNamara takes the torch.
Naturally, McNamara will need the full backing from the entire club, from co-owners Andrew Thirkill and David Hood to CEO Richie Myler and beyond. That goes from recruitment and retention to the internal structure of the football department, backroom staff, medical staff, equipment, and everything else. And there’s nothing to suggest he won’t get just that.
Get those components right, and Hull will give themselves the best chance of team continuity and, ultimately, success. And again in McNamara, they have the man they believe will do just that.
It’s the homecoming he always wanted – and now 30 years after leaving the club as a player, he’s got it.