Jayden Okunbor opens up on disastrous Hull FC stint with brutally honest admission made

Jayden Okunbor in action for Hull FC in 2024
Jayden Okunbor has revealed how loneliness led to him playing ‘some of the worst footy of his life’ during his disastrous stint at Hull FC last year.
Okunbor arrived at the MKM Stadium ahead of the 2024 campaign having played 45 NRL games for Canterbury Bulldogs and penned a two-year deal.
But after just eight appearances, and a sole try which came against Hull KR, he was released from the remainder of his contract by the Airlie Birds last July.
Fellow overseas recruits Fa’amanu Brown and Franklin Pele also headed out of the exit door within just a few months at Hull, so the Sydney native wasn’t on his own.
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Jayden Okunbor opens up on disastrous Hull FC stint with brutally honest admission made
The 27-year-old went on to link up with Championship outfit Bradford permanently having spent a brief period with them as a loanee, and remains at Odsal for 2025 having put pen to paper on a contract extension at the end of last season.
Featuring 18 times for the Bulls to date, he’s now opened up on his time at Hull on the latest episode of Bradford team-mate Ronan Michael’s ‘What’s the message?‘ podcast.
With the episode titled ‘Finding Happiness’, Okunbor detailed: “I came over with a lot of excitement. Being at the Bulldogs for so long, I felt like I needed something new.
“Moving to the other side of the world was that (something new) and I was super excited.
“Going to Hull, I had no idea about anything in England. I didn’t watch much Super League.
“I came over here by myself and a few of the other boys that came over from Australia had their partners, so I just struggled from the start.
“I lived in the city by myself. Shout out to Tex Hoy because he did look after me, he lived down the road from me and he was the main person that helped me when I first moved.
“He obviously had a partner and I didn’t just want to invade their space, so I was just at home by myself.
“Going to training in the weather, I wasn’t used to it. I just felt super alone.”
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‘You play your best footy when you’re happy, and I definitely wasn’t happy’
During Okunbor’s short stint at Hull, he lost all bar one of the games which he played in, with head coach Tony Smith being sacked in mid-April.
FC would go on to finish second-bottom of the Super League table solely by the virtue of having a better points difference than London Broncos.
He continued: “The training we were doing wasn’t what I was expecting, I thought it was going to be a bit harder and a bit more full on, so I just lost a bit of fitness.
“Going into games, I don’t feel like I was fully prepared and I played some of the worst footy I’ve played in my life.
“That was on me, but I realised that you play your best footy when you’re happy, and I definitely wasn’t happy.
“That really affected my performance.”
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