Hull FC hand deals to youngsters
Hull FC have handed new deals to seven rising stars, as well as securing a deal for former Leeds Rhinos scrum-half Jack Wray.
Zeus Silk, Connor Bower and winger Mike Adlard have all penned one-year full-time deals with the Black and Whites, with Jordan Lane signing an initial two-year contract.
Forwards Ross Osborne and Masi Matongo have signed two-year extensions, and hooker Jez Litten has put pen to paper on a three-year deal with the club.
Hull-born Wray, who has spent the last few years in the Rhinos academy, also links up with FC on a three-year contract with the first-team.
Osborne was promoted to the senior squad for pre-season in 2016, and he spent part of the year on loan at Kingstone Press League 1 side York City Knights.
Matongo, a Hull Wyke junior, made his senior debut for Hull FC back in 2015 against Wigan Warriors and has featured regularly in the reserves this season.
Litten, who has yet to appear for the first-team, has been a lynchpin of the reserves side and his good performances saw him travel to Australia mid-season with England Academy.
Bower, Silk and Adlard have also caught the eye in the reserves competition, and the latter was awarded the 2016 Hull FC Reserves Team Player of the Year having chalked up plenty of tries for the City of Hull Academy and the reserves this year.
On the new contracts, Hull FC head coach Lee Radford said: “It’s great news for all these blokes extending their contracts with the club. As a coaching staff, we’ve identified there’s some real promise amongst them.
“We’re disappointed with the governing body not formalising an official reserve team competition, but as a club we will strive to make sure we organise as many fixtures for this group as we possibly can.
“I think the challenge for this group of young players is not just to showcase their abilities when playing, but also being as competitive as they possibly can every day at training.
“They have some fantastic players in front of them, and there’s a real challenge to surpass some of these squad members moving forward.
“Their desire to do that will be judged daily throughout the season.”