Francis Cummins makes encouraging Hull FC prediction after character building week

Hull FC coaching duo Simon Grix and Francis Cummins.
-Credit: (Image: SW Pix)


Francis Cummins believes Jack Charles' rise into the Hull FC first-team is just the start, with 'four to five' players from the current academy side having the capabilities to go on and have stellar Super League careers.

The 47-year-old has been pleased with the academy's development since joining the club last November, paying tribute to the work Head of Youth Pete Riding and former coach Michael Shenton have done. Cummins, in a modest take, sees his role as a continuation of that progress, with the club determined to bring through players that are good enough to hold their own in the first-team.

Fielding a young side at St Helens, eleven of the players who turned out on Merseyside had come through the Black and Whites' system across different eras, with eight under the age of 22. Four, Logan Moy, Lewis Martin, Zach Jebson, and Charles, were teenagers, having come through the system under Riding, Shenton, and now Cummins himself, who, as an experienced head coach in his own right, is finding his feet at Hull FC.

"I've really enjoyed coaching the academy and reserves," he told Hull Live. "Seeing the lads play well and improve, that's the real bonus for me. I've enjoyed working with them.

"Michael Shenton did a great job, and Pete Riding is in his third season here. You can see the development in the group. The lads who are in the academy now were in their first scholarship group, and providing they can keep working hard and keep advancing, I think there's some special people coming through.

"We've already seen Jack Charles in the first team, but there's probably another four or five, I reckon, in that group who will all go on to be great Super League players. We've got everything crossed for them; there's a lot more bridges to cross, but there are some special kids in there, and the club has done really well with it all so far and they need to keep it going.

"That's what everyone wants to see: local lads doing well and having a big group coming through. We're at Saints here, and they've done it for a while, and you can see what positives it has on that club."

Singling out Ryan Westerman and Will Kirby after Saturday's narrow 18-12 reserves St Helens, the club will promote several more players from the academy to the first team next season, with Roman Dawson, as revealed by Hull Live, signing a three-year contract.

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Cummins, meanwhile, is now also helping out Simon Grix in first team matters following Tony Smith's departure, and while the need for new signings to help the club's young stars out is all too apparent, he believes the talent that featured on Friday night will be better for it in the long run.

"The last week or so has been a whirlwind," Cummins added. "It's like a loss in the family. It's a really strange feeling, but we've just got to make sure we keep the club going and try to improve it. Wherever I can help Grixy or anyone else, I'll do it.

"We've just got to find a bit of rhythm and a bit of confidence. You can see it coming. The young lads in that young team showed that they can work hard; they haven't got the power yet in that group with people missing, but it will come, providing they just work as hard as they did on Friday night.

"It's a tough environment to learn lessons, but you can see that they will get better for it. That's only one way to do that; you've got to go through it; you can't avoid it; and you've got to put yourself in there.

"There are some good characters doing that, and the more they keep putting themselves in that situation, the more they will only get better for it. That's the positive thing for us at the moment."

Read more: Hull FC's youth show spirit in St Helens but club realities stand out like sore thumb