Tom Briscoe explains Hull FC's potential chain reaction as club gun for positive future

Tom Briscoe believes there has been some evolution in Hull FC's confidence levels over the last few weeks, with the club now needing to 'get the monkey off their back' with a first win in over three months. The Black and Whites are currently on an 11-game losing run and face one of Briscoe's former clubs, Leeds Rhinos, this Saturday afternoon.

Preparing for his fifth game since returning to the club and his first at home, the winger is hoping a Hull victory will set off a chain reaction, with the side, who were getting hammered by the week earlier this year, at least 'stemming the flow' in recent results as a more competitive outfit.

And as the Super League competition reaches its halfway point, Briscoe, who admits it was tough watching his debut club go through their heavy defeats earlier this season, is going all out to get that win, with Hull's only victory so far this year coming against London back in round three.

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"From the outside, you saw the blowout scores getting to 50 and 60 points, and it made for bad reading," Briscoe told Hull Live. "I'm not saying us being more competitive in recent weeks is down to me coming to the club, but it's the result of a combination of things where we needed to stem that flow. I think over the last few weeks we've been able to do that, and we've got ourselves in games.

"At the point at which the club was, we needed to build confidence from wherever we could take it. It's pleasing from where we were earlier in the season to see a bit of progress to get back into games and compete, but it's all about winning, and at the moment, we're struggling for that.

"However, I think as soon as we get the win and get the monkey off our back, the performances and consistency will be there, and we can get a few more wins. We want to get a few and try to have a positive and confident finish to the season."

Briscoe was the first signing made by new Hull Director of Rugby, Richie Myler, back in April, with the winger joining on an 18-month deal. Since then, an abundance of change has occurred, with Yusuf Aydin joining the club on a two-year deal and Ben Reynolds and Tiaki Chan arriving on loan.

Hull have also snapped up many players for next year, such as John Asiata, Jordan Abdull, Zak Hardaker, etc, with Briscoe optimistic for the future while putting an emphasis on the remaining 14 games this season.

"The future is looking good," Briscoe continued. "It's positive, and there is a buzz about the place. It's now up to us who are in the squad for this year to build on that and finish the season well.

"We want to go into the off-season on a positive note. There are things to look forward to, but we need to have some building blocks within the squad. There is going to be a lot of change, but there will be a core group of players from this season that need to learn some lessons from this year. That will only build good habits for next season and give us something to go off in pre-season.”

Two of those players staying on for next year are Harvey Barron and Lewis Martin, with both wingers signing new deals to keep them at the club for at least the 2025 season. Briscoe, meanwhile, is taking both players under his wing, using his experience after a 16-year career to date.

"It's great for the club to sign up two young local lads," Briscoe said. "They're great prospects. I'm just trying to coach them if anything breaks down in training, and I feel like I can add a bit to them to give them some tips, or if they're doing something right and well, just patting them on the back. I'm trying to use my experience to try and bring them on both in terms of confidence and in a technical aspect as well."

Coaching and mentoring are nothing new to Briscoe, who is currently studying for a PHD at Leeds Beckett University. As part of his studies, the winger led a 100-strong female testing weekend last month, with the 34-year-old keen to see an increase in the professional standards of the women's game, which saw a record attendance for the Challenge Cup final last week.

"It's massive," Briscoe added. "To have the women's game and see some of the stats, I did see Jodie's (Cunningham). Thankfully, she came down to the testing day, which was great. If we want to grow the game and see it constantly improve, then we need to introduce some better standards into the youth game to see all the talent there.

"We had nearly 100 girls come through over the weekend when we did the testing, which was amazing. There are some great physical athletes in there, and we took them for a bit of a skills session after, and the skills are on point. It's good to see what the future may look like. It was a really positive weekend for me personally to get what I needed for my PHD, but in a broader sense for the RFL to see what is out there."

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