HULL FC come to the Galpharm to take on the Huddersfield Giants today on a huge high.
The Airlie Birds wiped the floor with local rivals Hull KR on Good Friday 36-6, despite a crippling injury list which has seen assistant coach Lee Radford come out of retirement.
Their season to date has also been a success story, with only one defeat so far coming away to the Salford City Reds, leaving them second in the table.
The entire club has been lifted with Hull City FC chairman Adam Pearson buying the black and whites, and he has quickly flashed his cash.
His first signing was new coach Peter Gentle, who has brought in a host of NRL and Super League experience in Aaron Heremaia, Brett Seymour, Wade McKinnon, Tony Martin, Andy Lynch and former Giant Martin Aspinwall.
The influx of new signings, along with the talent that they already had in their ranks, has shown everyone in the division that Hull FC are not a side to take lightly.
The club’s signing of superstar second rower Gareth Ellis for next season also shows they mean business, as they look to become the Super League superpower that they have always had the potential to become.
And victory against the Giants today will be the statement of intent that the Airlie Birds will want to show everyone in the competition that they are flying high once more.
ANDY LYNCH has been a real star performer for Hull this season.
New club owner Adam Pearson splashed out big to secure the services of the former Great Britain prop from Bradford Bulls for a reported transfer fee of nearly £100,000.
And that’s proved to be a great bit of business for the Airlie Birds, with Lynch appointed captain of the club.
That duty has seen the best of the 32-year-old prop as he is the competition’s top metre-maker in the forwards and his deadly off-loading game could cause the Giants problems if they are not careful.
PETER GENTLE has so far done an inspired job this season. The former Kangaroos and West Tigers assistant coach has taken the club from playoff hopefuls into genuine title contenders.
Gentle also proved influential in bringing Gareth Ellis to the KC stadium, with his relationship with the England international one of the reasons why he chose to join him at the KC stadium, in what looks to be a bright future for the club under his tenure.
Giants: Grix, Lawrence, Cudjoe, McGillvary, Brown, Brough, Crabtree, Robinson, Mason, Fa'alogo, Lunt, Patrick, Wardle, Chan, Lee, George, Murphy, Molloy, Eden.
Hull: Bowden, T Briscoe, Ellis, Horne, Houghton, Kent, Lynch, Manu, McKinnon, Nicklas, Pitts, Radford, Sharp, Seymour, Tickle, Turner, Whiting, Yeaman.
