Some final calls will be made in the coming weeks.
Hull FC winger Tom Briscoe. (Image: Getty)
Hull FC still have some calls to make on out-of-contract players and for Andy Last, the motivation is simple: play well and put yourself in the shop window.
The likes of Yusuf Aydin, Tom Briscoe (one-year club option), Lennon Clark, Roman Dawson, Brad Fash, Ben Johnson, Hugo Salabio, and Ligi Sao are all out of contract and free to speak to rival clubs now.
And while some players may be set for departures, some could yet be kept on into the 2027 season under Steve McNamara, with Hull Live understanding Clark, for one, has been offered a new deal. Aydin was also in talks with the club earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Last has laid down the gauntlet for those players. He told Hull Live: “There’s the individual motivation to perform well. If you want to be part of things at Hull FC, you need to perform well, and I think the best way you do that is making sure you perform to the best of your capabilities.
“If we get players playing well, it gives you a better chance of winning some games and if we can win some games, it allows those individuals to really put themselves in the frame to be staying here.”
Of course, some under-contract players could also be leaving Hull at the end of the season, with Amir Bourouh, Cade Cust, and Aidan Sezer linked with moves away from the club. Yet for Last the same message applies.
Asked if the uncertainty is having an effect, the interim head coach replied: “It shouldn’t. They are professional players at the end of the day, and when you’re in sport, you can be on a five-year contract, but a new coach comes in, and he could have a difference of opinion.
“You see it all the time in sport when someone gets tapped on the shoulder. Professional sport is a fragile occupation to be part of. There is always change.
“I think the best way to apply yourself and deal with that is just making sure that you’re doing the day-to-day well and applying yourself with professionalism and working hard and making sure that you just take care of performance because you don’t tend to change someone who’s doing a great job.
“We just need to make sure that we’ve got plenty of players just doing a good job and make it as difficult as we can for people to make those decisions, whether they stay or go.”