Hull FC Academy prepare to head to the Totally Wicked Stadium for their play-off semi-final clash with St Helens Under 18s tomorrow evening – here’s the story of the season so far…
Well before a ball was even kicked, Francis Cummins was announced as Hull FC’s Head of Emerging Talent in November 2023, with Hull’s youngsters preparing to be led by a new coach in 2024.
Having qualified for the Academy Championship play-off semi-finals in each of the last two seasons, Hull were once again harbouring more hopes of another strong year back in the winter.
But a slow start in their first match of the season away to Warrington meant FC’s youngsters were made to pay the price, as they suffered an opening round defeat.
They bounced back well with a Derby win on Good Friday, and a comprehensive victory away to Huddersfield in April.
However, Leeds prevented them from making it three wins on the spin as Hull went down to a 30-22 defeat at the University of Hull.
Odsal to face Bradford was next on the agenda for the Black & Whites. Having led comfortably during the second-half, Hull avoided a scare as the winless Bulls came charging back late on.
Similarly, Hull held onto their lead to defeat Castleford at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle later in May, but Warrington once again brought FC’s progress to an end in a fiery game at Hull YPI in June.
A strong 48-0 victory over Wakefield was a statement win from the young Black & Whites in July, but tough assignments against St Helens and Wigan resulted in Hull dropping outside of the play-off places.
But a biggest win of the season over arch rivals Hull KR gave FC the opportunity to stage an end-of-season showdown with Castleford. Quite simply, the winner would go through to the play-off semi-finals.
Despite trailing 12-0 inside the opening ten minutes, Hull turned the game on its head and saw off the Tigers to book a third consecutive play-off semi-final date with St Helens Under 18s.
Speaking to hullfc.com ahead of the trip across the Pennines on Monday evening, Hull’s Head of Emerging Talent has been impressed with the responsibility his players have taken on in recent weeks.
“One of the most pleasing things this year has been watching the young lads go from a quiet bunch at the start of the season into a really open, talkative group,” Cummins said.
“Watching the development and the better understanding of the game throughout the year as a whole has been really encouraging.
“An example I will use is the game against Castleford a couple of weeks ago. Generally, we play quite open, in terms of getting the ball wide and putting shapes on – which is great at times. But without me having to guide them, you could see that the mismatch in that particular game was in the middle, so people like Hutch [Will Hutchinson] and others in pivot roles started to play more direct and go through the middle.
“That’s one example of where the young lads are working things out for themselves during the game. As a coach, I’m stood there thinking “we’re on it here” because we’ve got smart players seeing things and taking advantage of them.”
Discussing the season as a whole, Cummins added that he has been delighted with the attitude shown by Hull’s youngsters at challenging periods throughout the year.
“Although we’ve lost a couple of games along the way, the lads have responded to those results in absolutely the right way. They’ve always made sure they’ve learned from mistakes.
“A lot of people have stood up at period when we’ve maybe been missing a few through first-team selection or injury. That’s another really pleasing factor this year – that we’ve had lots of people contributing.
“Maybe this is now this group’s chance to grab a little bit of history and put their names in the record books.”
Hull FC’s U18s face St Helens U18s at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Monday 16th September (7.30pm) in the Academy Championship Semi-Finals.
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