John Cartwright is determined to seize a second opportunity as a head coach after becoming the latest man tasked with making Hull FC a force in the Betfred Super League once again.
Former Australia second row Cartwright is the Black and Whites’ third permanent head coach since Lee Radford was fired in March 2020 and his immediate task is to guide them out of the doom spiral which saw a miserable 2024 campaign result in an 11th-place finish.
It is an onerous task, but one the 59-year-old ex-Gold Coast Titans boss has readily embraced since since swapping his assistant coach role with Brisbane Broncos for the top job in West Hull, having not wanted to let another chance pass him by.
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“I’ve had a few opportunities over the years and probably regretted not chasing them up,” Cartwright told rugbyleaguehub.com.
“This opportunity came and for me, historically, [Hull FC] are a very big powerful club, very well-known, and it seemed a good fit.
“It was the time of life where if I kept knocking back opportunities they might not come along any more.
“I’m not too concerned about what happened last year…there has been a lot of work been done to get to where we need to be, but we won’t really know until we kick off.”
Cartwright spent seven years at the helm of the Titans from their inaugural season in the NRL in 2007 to standing down after the 2014 campaign, with the high point being reaching the preliminary final in 2010.
Those lessons of overseeing a new team entering a competition will undoubtedly serve him well as he joins a Hull FC side undergoing something of a rebuild.
“I learnt a lot in those years, there are things I was really proud of that we did and a lot of things I know I can get better at,” Cartwright said.
“The biggest role you have at a club is to make sure you’re right on top of your recruitment. You know who’s maybe not going to be there, who you would like to come in – you can’t just worry about coaching and getting the team right.
“That’s a big part of it, but you’ve also got to be looking down the track and making sure you know when things evolve and players retire or move on that you’ve got a Plan B.”
Recruitment is something Hull FC, who kick off their 2025 Super League season away to Catalans Dragons on Friday (8pm GMT), have been particularly focused on, bringing in no fewer than 11 new faces.
New Zealand international Jordan Rapana, former Huddersfield Giants half-back Aidan Sezer, a quartet from Leigh Leopards including John Asiata and Zak Hardaker, and Jordan Abdull swapping Hull KR for their cross-city rivals are some of the more high-profile signings they have made.
There have been changes off the field too with Andrew Thirkill and David Hood completing a takeover in December, while Cartwright is pleased to see the training facilities have been upgraded which he believes will be crucial to Hull FC’s success.
“It was something which was identified before I got the job, but it’s an area where you’ve got have it right,” Cartwright said.
“You’ve got to get that part of your business right because it’s where you spend most of your time, it’s where you prepare your players to get onto the field and where everything happens before you see the boys run out onto the field.
“A lot of time and money has been spent on getting stuff set up and we’ve got no excuses.”
Image: Allan McKenzie/SWpix
