What can be said about the Hull FC merry-go-round that hasn’t already been said anyway? It’s true that I love this club and I always will, but it’s also true that in recent times I have begun to despair about the direction in which it has been heading.

I drive all over to report on this team. Next month I am even taking a train down to that there London and staying in an Air B&B to go and report on our away game against the only side we have managed to beat so far this season and I daren’t tell my wife how much that is costing me, because I do still value my marriage.

After the debacle at Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup, she told me that I shouldn’t bother trailing all along the M62 corridor, because they obviously didn’t care as much as I and the rest of the Old Faithful do, even though she is a season pass member herself.

However, I believe these players do care and the sacking of the most experienced coach in the Super League came as something of a surprise to me and certain other members of the media who were present in the media suite after the latest 50+ point embarrassment at the MKM Stadium, also ironically against one of his former clubs.

In his first season in charge, Tony Smith had lost against and also beaten every single one of the clubs he had previously coached in the Super League. He also did the unthinkable of beating then-World Champions St. Helens, the first Hull coach to do so since Lee Radford managed it in 2017, he also beat Wigan at home and came within an ace of beating them away as well.

The home victory over St. Helens was actually a big enough win on its own to rest control of the Steve Prescott Cup back to the Black & Whites, despite Saints winning the two other games, they still lost on aggregate due to an evening in Hull which will long live in the memory, particularly the Jake Trueman try that night.

So, yes it’s fair to say that life under Tony Smith certainly had its good points for the Airlie Birds, I should also just mention that masterful comeback victory over Warrington Wolves at Magic Weekend as another highlight, just because the highlights were so few and far between.

Unfortunately, the coach had to go, after conceding 50 or more points three times in just four games, you could say with hindsight (don’t you just love hindsight) that the writing was really on the wall for the man who turned Leeds into champions and Warrington into multiple Challenge Cup winners.

But yet, if you had been in that media suite after the 56-22 home defeat to Huddersfield Giants, you wouldn’t have seen a coach who was concerned for his job, including the way he issued an invitation to go into the dressing room with him, to see how the players and he interacted with each other.

He kept talking about the pain, how much defeats like that hurt him personally and about the process they were all having to go through, but at no point did he look like he was under any pressure whatsoever, for people like me in the press, that is the mark of a man who knows exactly how to deal with the press and still give us plenty of dream-like content and you can be guaranteed that he will be sorely missed by all of us and we’re all just crossing our fingers that he turns up in rugby league again, sooner rather than later.

However, now moving onto the brave new Hull FC vision, with former international player, Challenge Cup winner and Grand Finalist Richie Myler appointed as the new Director of Rugby at Hull FC and what to expect from this ailing club from now and into a hopefully prosperous future.

Yes, I am aware of the controversy that has previously surrounded him, however as a Hull FC supporter, like anybody new at this great club, I will have to give him a chance, even though I am filled with trepidation because he is completely green to this.

You see, Hull FC is not a club for experiments like this, just ask Brett Hodgson about his first go at being a head coach and the same could be said for the much-vaunted Peter Gentle.
But, with this role being more in the background, maybe he could work out quite well, after all, having played over 400 games in his professional career, he certainly knows his way around the game.

On top of that, many people say James Clark is the wrong choice for a CEO, they say he’s a radio DJ, which of course he was. However, having worked for him myself at Hull FC media during my BA (Hons) degree in Journalism and Digital Media, I know exactly what sort of person he is, and believe me, he is one very exacting man, who will watch Mr Myler like a hawk and he certainly doesn’t suffer fools gladly, trust me, I’ve seen much worse at our famous old club and I have absolutely no problem trusting him as CEO.

How about the new coach that Richie is already involved in picking, the list of names seems to get added to on a regular basis, where is Stephen Kearney nowadays? Would Shaun Wane fancy getting back into club coaching? Does Daryl Powell fancy another crack at the top flight, without having to navigate a promotion race that is fraught with danger? Or will another unknown emerge from the NRL, which has produced the likes of Michael Maguire, Willie Peters, and Trent Robinson among others?

Other names that have been attributed include Danny Ward, Danny McGuire and even the legendary Wayne Bennett, but another idea is that the interim coach Simon Grix could be the man if he manages to beat St. Helens away on Friday, Leeds Rhinos at home the following week, Warrington Wolves away and then London Broncos away, before another enforced Challenge Cup break, could that be his ticket to the hot-seat at the MKM Stadium?

Another job for the former half-back who is now DoR is to recruit some new talent from the NRL to replace those who have been released, how soon can that happen? It has been mentioned before that Hull could have a very brand-new look team by the time that Rohan’s Rhinos arrive to try and exact revenge for his Uncle Tony, until then, the rumours will undoubtedly just get wilder and wilder.

One thing is for certain, it’s going to be quite some ride, and my colleagues and I in the press are going to be kept very busy reporting on it.

Written by Ian Judson (Hull FC fan)