Hull FC head coach Brett Hodgson has named three co-captains for the new Betfred Super League season, including influential half back Marc Sneyd!
Black & Whites stalwart Danny Houghton, who has held the club captaincy role since 2018, will be joined by former vice-captain Scott Taylor and new addition Sneyd, as the trio share the leadership role this season as co-captains.
Two-time Lance Todd Trophy winner Sneyd has caught the eye of new head coach Hodgson in pre-season and will play an even more influential and vocal role leading from half-back this season.
Meanwhile, Hull-born duo Houghton and Taylor have continued to highlight their leadership qualities throughout what has been a high-intensity and competitive pre-season period.
It is one of the few times the club have appointed co-captains for a campaign, with only two similar examples recently in the Super League era.
In 1998, Alan Hunte and Gary Lester both captained the side, whilst in 2010 new signing Sean Long was named as on-field captain alongside Lee Radford who was appointed as club captain.
Sneyd and Taylor now join Houghton on a long list of illustrious names to have had the honour of leading the Hull FC playing group, including the likes of Billy Batten, Johnny Whiteley, Clive Sullivan, Steve Norton, David Topliss, Greg Mackey, Richard Swain and Craig Fitzgibbon, amongst many other famous names.
The trio, all of whom were part of the club’s 2016 and 2017 Challenge Cup Final successes, have a total of over 870 career appearances between them, and bring a vast wealth of experience to the first-team squad.
Speaking on the decision to appoint three co-captains, Brett Hodgson said: “I’ve had plenty of conversations with the coaching staff having looked at the progression and development of the playing group throughout pre-season, and discussed what we thought was best in terms of leading the group onto the field.
“We felt that Danny and Scott did a brilliant job last season, but we wanted to add to that by bringing Marc into the mix too.
“He is our general on the field and his leadership qualities put him in the right position to be able to join the other two and succeed in that role. He has a calming influence on the team and you can see that when he is performing well, the team performs well.
“He is a born leader and essentially guided the players around the field last year too, so we have given him the promotion to show his value to us.
Meanwhile, on Houghton and Taylor, Hodgson added: “Danny continually looks to learn and I feel he has really improved his leadership around the training ground over the last few months as we look to establish our values and culture.
“He’s becoming more of a vocal leader and leading from the front when he is out on the field – his progression really has been outstanding. Being from the area, a lot of the younger players look up to him which is important as captain.
“And Scott is our enforcer in terms of his physicality and presence on the field, with excellent communication. He leads with his actions on the field and bring something a little bit different to the other two.
He added: “We believe as a trio, their own qualities and skills can compliment each other going forward into the new season.”
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