Richie Myler explains key Hull FC recruitment priority as retention stance made

Hull FC's Director of Rugby, Richie Myler.
Hull FC's Director of Rugby, Richie Myler. -Credit:SW Pix


Richie Myler is still looking for more 'experience' and 'leadership' to help strengthen Hull FC. The club's new Director of Rugby has already brought veteran winger Tom Briscoe to the club on an 18-month contract, with players of the same ilk desired to help out what is essentially a young squad.

Actively trying to bring in new players to bolster the side, Myler has also signed Ed Chamberlain and Yusuf Aydin on short term loan deals, with the club having the allowance to further recruit after the departures of Tex Hoy and Fa'amanu Brown. That gives Hull two quota spots to work with, although there is a realisation that it is easier to work on the domestic front than overseas.

That doesn't rule out either, though, with Myler declaring that the club are 'heavily in the recruitment market' as he aims to add more quality to the squad, working in tandem with Simon Grix and Francis Cummins to bring in the right players in the right positions, with the primary target an out and out half-back to lead the side.

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"We need more experience and some more leaders on the field," Myler told the BBC. "Over the next few weeks, we're going to try and do that. At this time of the year, it is hard to bring players in and teams don't want to let go of their players, but we're heavily in the recruitment market.

"I'm on the phone every single day with an agent, but it all goes back to what we want a Hull FC player to look like. Names on a piece of paper don't do it if we just bring anybody in to plug a hole. We need to define what we want to stand for and look like on the pitch as a club.

"We played a guy (Nu Brown) at seven when he's a nine, in my opinion. The boys in there now are struggling in different parts of their game that are not their forte. They were signed to play a different role and they're putting the shirt on and digging in for each other, but quite clearly we need an organiser in there. We need someone who can get us around the park with a kicking game.

"I'm not speaking out of term here, Morgan Smith is doing a good job, but he wasn't signed to play that role week in and week out. There are a few other areas that we need to look at and there are some injured boys to come back into the team. They will definitely strengthen us and they will filter back in.

"Cleary Jake Trueman coming back will have a massive impact on us as a club, but Jake needs to take his time and get himself right. He's got a big future at the club. We're very confident that when he gets a run of games, he will deliver for us. He's a very talented player. We need some more experienced people around him who can guide the team so we can get away from the 50-point defeats and become more competitive. We're looking at recruits who can strengthen the squad."

As well as recruitment, both for now and next season, Myler, with help from other performance staff at the club, will also make decisions on Hull's out-of-contract players this year, with some of those players to move on and some to stay and fight for their place at the club.

"We've got 13 boys off contract at the end of the season," Myler continued. "There's about £1.2 million of the cap in there where we can make a dent on the team. Some of those boys will be retained because they want to be here and they want to be a part of what we want to stand for as a club. This next process of the season is going to define who is going to be here. I've said that to the team, 'If you want to be a part of this journey that we're about to go on then you're the ones with the shirt on and you're the ones with the first crack.'

"We've not made decisions on anyone yet. We're speaking to lots of players who want to come here and add to us. There's definitely a way we can make an impact on the team and that's the exciting part for the club. We want to become a club where people are proud to wear that shirt.

"We can't write this season off. This team will be completely different next year, and those players know that they've got to turn up week in and week out. Everybody's contract is on the line, my contract is on the line, and our reputations and what we stand for as a club has to pull in the right direction and the same direction. That's the biggest thing."

Read more: 'Not the Messiah' Jake Trueman return met with caution as Hull FC target step forward