We’ve still got to go up four or five more gears
RICHIE MYLER DISCUSSES HIS FIRST THREE MONTHS AT FC WITH OUR HULL REPORTER
DT: You’re three months into the Director of Rugby role, how have you found it so far?
RM: It’s been really good. It’s been a good transition from playing. For me and my personality, I needed something full-on, and this has certainly been full-on with a lot of movement. We’ve still got a couple of big pieces to put into play and if we can do that, then we’ll be in a stronger position for next year.
DT: In terms of the signings so far, they largely point to the type of direction the club is going in; they’re experienced, but also hard working players. Is that a clearly thought-out plan to complement the youth?
RM: We’re a club that wants, over a period of time, to develop our own players. What’s the best way for us to do that? We can’t expose them to game after game, with the fear of burning them out. It’s been valuable for those players to get experience this year, but they need more experience around them. The people I’m bringing in for next year are mostly 30+ and have been in strong environments, and they have been high-performing individuals at a high level for a long period of time.
We want all our young players to come through and be a conveyor belt of talent. My thought process for the next 18 months or so is getting those players into an environment that is hardworking, massive on standards, massive on principles, and making sure that there is a foundation in place so that when they are in that environment, they know how to train, how to prepare, and how to conduct themselves on and off the field.
By having people in there who I know and trust and have worked with before, and people who know them and vouch for them, that is going to give us the biggest standpoint for our Ryan Westerman’s to come through, our Will Hutchinson’s, and all of these players who we have high hopes on in our academy and in our first team, Jack Charles, Logan Moy, Lewis Martin, etc, they need an environment that is strong. The one that I came into wasn’t strong. The standards had dropped a fair way from the customary environment I’d been used to. It’s got to be player-led as well. They’ve got to have the ability and the confidence to pick each other up and say, ‘Look, that’s not acceptable’ or ‘We need to be better in this area.’ When you get all of those small details right, it translates on the field. When you’re disjointed, undisciplined, and mentally weak, it also shows on the field. If we can create an environment that has all those elements, it will translate on the field.
DT: What do you think went so wrong at Hull to get to the point of a complete restructure? Was it a mental thing, a case of a lack of confidence, and the like?
RM: I don’t believe every single player in that team is mentally weak. There are a lot of strong characters in there. I think the environment they’ve been in hasn’t been as disciplined and as high-pressured on standards and the way that they conduct themselves, and that has led to a weaker performance on the field. Any person who takes to the field has to have certain levels of strength; it is a very physically demanding and highpressure job. However, I think the fundamentals around how you prepare and how you conduct yourself as a player day to day in this organisation and this group need to be better.
It’s not just players, we’ve all dropped off a bit, and that’s been highlighted with my role coming in. The way the club is trying to change and the way we’re going about our business will ensure we have a whole different feel next year.
DT: Does it give you confidence that those who have come in this season have brought the desired elements? Does it show the plan can work?
RM: It ticks a box in the sense we’re on the right track. We know we are still a long way off from where we want to be. However, we are heading in the right direction. If we were still going in the opposite direction and everything we were doing wasn’t having any impact, then that’s when the alarm bells would start to ring.
Gareth Ellis mentioned it the other day: when you’re in a rut and it’s dark and you’re thinking you can’t see a way out, the burden of that is really hard, and it takes its toll on the players. That’s the position the club was in. But with the changing of the hierarchy and the new optimism that comes around with that and the hope of what is to come, there are a lot of positive things that are going to happen to this club.
The issue for the players is: which ones want to be a part of that and make themselves a part of it? Some of them won’t come on that journey with us, but some will. The new ones that come in for a couple of years may serve a purpose and take us to the next level, and then we go again. Ultimately, the narrative of what we’re trying to do is to bring optimism. The players are seeing that, and it’s exciting to be a part of it. It’s resonating with them, and we’re now seeing a better performance.
We’re harder to beat now, and I believe the signings we’re bringing in will make us a stronger, more resilient team that is even harder to beat.
DT: John Cartwright is the man to tie it all together as head coach. What has your relationship been like?
RM: We speak daily on the phone, and every conversation I’ve had is about his mantra. He wants, as I do, to put a team on the field that follows our club motto. We walk around in our kit, and it says, ‘Hull and Proud.’ I don’t believe t all of our players and fans have been proud of our performances. I think I watched four or five games that had 50+ scorelines. That would hurt anybody; it hurt our fans, and our players, but I feel like the last three months we’ve built ourselves into a more competitive side that is harder to beat.
We’re not the finished article, and our attack and the way that we can trouble teams are still a long way off where we want to be. However, we’ve got a lot more resilience, and we’re working hard for one another. We’re second from bottom for a reason, and over the last three years, we have not performed. That’s not going to fix itself overnight. We’re not going to bring in 10 superstars. However, we’re bringing in a load of lads who are hard working, and who want to help the club redefine itself and get it back to where it wants to be. A lot of our club operates at a very high standard; our commercial brand, our social media reach, our fan base – everything says we are a top-four club, but our performance is well off. Our strategy and our recruitment have been a long way off.
Do we need to go a lot further? 100%. We’ve got to go up four or five gears. There is a lot of hard work ahead, and that’s why we’ve got a head coach coming in whose mantra is that we’re going to work hard.
We’re going to be fit. If they’re not fit, then they don’t train with the team. That’s John’s number one rule.
People coming in, our new signings, need to know that come the start of pre-season, they need to be in good shape. It doesn’t start on November 5th; it starts at the back end of this season. That will be vital.
DT: Is there any update on if the club will strengthen the medical and conditioning departments?
RM: I’ve gone through every member of staff, and we’ve gone through every contract and every role. It’s a tough one. There are a lot of elements we get right; they just need a little bit more resource. That’s the feedback I got. We need a new head physio to come in within the medical organisation. That has been highlighted by the players. If we don’t get that right, there’s no point in paying for a player.
We want to look after them. We need to be better in that area; it has been highlighted, and we are putting more resources into it.
SIMON Grix is expecting another busy week for Hull FC on the transfer front, with Richie Myler still aiming to make the squad stronger for the remaining nine games of the season.
Clubs have until August 2 to complete their business, with FC one of many clubs still in the market
The club are aiming to bring new 2025 signing Cade Cust in for the rest of the year, who is part of a chain effect between a couple of other moves in the pipeline. Should the deals go down at the other end, then the half-back/ hooker is expected to be part of Grix’s side for the final nine rounds.
Hull, who brought Ed Chamberlain and King Vuniyayawa in on loan last week, are also looking elsewhere, but there is also confidence in the current side, who produced a season-best performance to defeat Wigan and now face Catalans in Perpignan this weekend.
Grix said: “Richie has got another busy week. We’ve got 10 days or so before the window shuts. It’s busy for a lot of clubs at the moment.
“We’re still looking. We want competition in our squad, and we need good, quality depth. I think our depth is good in terms of having those young kids there who are capable, but a year down the track when they’ve got more games under their belt, it looks a little different. That’s a process that takes time to build, but we’re happy with where they’re at now.
“We’ll get confidence from that that win (going into Catalans). No one will back us but we’ll just quietly go about trying to get better and hopefully, we can put ourselves in a position to challenge.”