Aspinwall still at Hull as Nine leave FC

Correspondent

Following the climax of the 2012 season, Hull FC have announced which players won’t be retained ahead of next year’s campaign.

Winger Will Sharp will not be offered a new contract after two years with the Black and Whites and is now free to join another club, whilst fellow out-of-contract players Liam Cunningham, Lewis Brown and Mike Burnett will not be retained.

Three more players whose contracts have also expired have already found new clubs with Sam Moa returning to Australia for family reasons and will represent Sydney Roosters, whilst long-serving Willie Manu and centre Jordan Turner are both joining St. Helens, despite significant offers to stay with Hull.

Fellow centre Tony Martin has chosen to retire after a fine career spanning 17-years in the game, whilst Laurence Pearce completes this list having left the club to take up a rugby union contract with Rotherham before the season ended.

Ryan McGoldrick and Martin Aspinwall are the two remaining players out-of-contract, but have not been released as discussions regarding their future remain ongoing.

Contrary to speculation, forward Aspinwall is still a Hull FC player despite reports suggesting otherwise.

Hull FC’s Director of Rugby, Shaun McRae, has thanked all the players for their service and wished them well for the future.

“All the players leave the club with our best wishes and we wish them will for their future endeavours in rugby league,” he said.

“Unfortunately in our sport we always have difficult decisions to make at this time of the year and we have decided not to renew a number of contracts for players.

“They go with our best wishes, particularly Willie who has been fine servant to the club over the last few years and I’m sure the supporters will look back fondly on his contribution in recent seasons.”

McRae also added, “In terms of Ryan and Martin, we continue to remain in contact with both the players and their agents as we finalise our squad for 2013.

“It’s not accurate that Martin has left the club and indeed remains in talks with us over his future and we expect to have a number of areas firmed up and completed over the next couple of weeks.