Hull FC forward Jayden Okunbor joins Championship club on loan
Hull FC forward Jayden Okunbor has joined Bradford Bulls on loan. The 27-year-old is yet to feature in the Black and Whites' first-team under interim head coach Simon Grix and is now set for a run in the Championship.
The loan is short-term, with no timeframe set. Okunbor will join Liam Tindall in the sport's second tier, whose loan move was confirmed on Friday. Both players will now look for some needed first-grade game time, with the Bulls hosting Wakefield Trinity in the 1895 Cup semi-final this weekend before meeting Sheffield Eagles at Odsal next week.
Okunbor played the first eight games of Hull's 2024 season under Tony Smith. He was then dropped for Grix's first game in charge at St Helens, instead playing for the reserves outfit against the Saints and Warrington Wolves.
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He started seven of those eight games, scoring one try in the Good Friday derby, with the player featuring off the bench alongside Franklin Pele for the reserves last week.
"He was better," Grix said on that reserves appearance. "He played better, and he worked on some of the things that we've spoken about. It was good to see.
"He's had an opportunity with the reserves. He's not had a bad attitude, which in my time, some people have dropped down to reserves, not been happy, kicked stones, and not given their best, which is no way to treat those young lads around you, so Jayden has been good in that regard and got on with it. You've got to tap him on the back for that, but as far as playing for us yet, I'm not 100% sure yet."
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