More from Steve Mascord
HULL FC CEO Richie Myler hosted a media briefing at the club's training base today.
Aside from our news story which you can read HERE, these are the main points from the 40-minute-plus chat.
BIDS FOR SALFORD PLAYERS LIKE MARC SNEYD AND DEON CROSS: "I think I'm like everybody else in this room, waiting with (baited) breath to see what happens with the Salford situation. We are in the market for players. We've got scope, we've got salary cap space there that's available for us to bring in the right player. We have made approaches for players from Salford but so far ... we all want a strong Salford in this competition. I think we need to go around with 12 teams and personally as a rugby league fan, I want Salford to be there. There's been assurances made that that's going to be the case so let's all hope... But equally we are still in the market if players become available. They've got talented players that would come into our group. We feel we've got a really good core of players at the moment. We've got a good 23, 24 players who'd be there week in, week out ... if we can bring in two starting players that are going to fight for starting spots then that's definitely the element we need to go for. Whether that is someone from Salford or something else that happens, we are open to bringing in players.
"Anybody that would make the starting 17, we'd obviously be interested in."
SUPER LEAGUE TEAMS PLAYING AMATEURS IN THE CHALLENGE CUP: "It's an interesting one. I love football, I like the FA Cup, I love the dream that any team can get to Wembley, any team can play. I think the logistics of it are a little bit different, which we are finding out at the moment. If we're playing at the amateur team's ground, the stipulations we are putting on that for them to fulfil that fixture on the ground ... I'm not sure if that can happen. So where that fixture gets played, at this moment in time I couldn't tell you. It's looking like it could be played at Featherstone or maybe Doncaster. If you were a player playing for York Acorn, you'd be loving it, wouldn't you? You get to go up against a Super League side.
"Do I think it will be happening next year? I don't think it will. I think we'll be coming in at round four or round five ... is more of the sensible decision. We are where we are.
"Marc's a different one because Marc doesn't have an agent. Us as a club can't speak to Marc directly. I've had many conversations with (Salford chairman) Paul King over players and said 'we would be interested'. That's as far as we got with Marc. We said to Paul King that if there was a situation where you would allow him to leave, we would offer you 'X' amount of money. With other players who have agents, we've been able to speak to their representatives ... so far that's as far as it got. Terms didn't really get discussed ... due to the fact of Paul King going down a different route and holding out for an investment.
"Ultimately (Deon Cross) is under contract with Salford. Paul King doesn't want to sell him ... we've offered a transfer fee for him. If he doesn't want to sell him, it's irrelevant. We can't do anything about it."
JORDAN ABDULL'S DEPARTURE BEFORE PLAYING A MATCH: "It was a difficult one because obviously we really wanted it to work. Jordan has undeniably got lots of talent. I played against him, been under several spiral bombs which are horrible to catch. He just unfortunately couldn't get on the training field. A decision was made as a club (that) to move forward, to stand for what we want to try and build here, if people can't quite get to that standard we need to make a tough decision. It was a difficult decision and we wish him all the best that he does recover and he is able to perform at a level that he can get back to. It was our decision that we couldn't ... we'd be a bit (hypocritical) with all the others and the tough conversations we'd had recently in pre-season and prior to the pre-season starting where we had to say 'look, it's going to be the right fit'. To stick by that mantra and stick by what we want to try and put down here and achieve and build over a period of time, a difficult decision had to be made and it was to release him from his contract. We were able to come to an agreement with his manager and as I say, I wish him all the best wherever he ends up next."
ANNOUNCING SIGNINGS WHEN THEY ARE STILL AT OTHER CLUBS: "That'll be the next one: when are we allowed to announce we've signed a player without annoying anybody? I think it's a good concept. I think it throws in another dynamic around social media, media attention. I think it's different, fun, actually. I think it's quite good. You may even see some people moving early because they get disgruntled from the club ... 'well he's signed there for three years, why on Earth are we keeping him?' ... which I think some people might enjoy ... but not me at the minute."
NRL THREAT: "With the NRL getting two new teams at some point, all our best players - let's face it - are gonna leave unless we dig in and do something on a bigger scale because it's just inevitable. Me and John (Cartwright) were having a conversation: if you were going to be Perth and you were the head coach of Perth, you'd go and get the 30 best Super League players. One, it would be cheaper. Two, they would be just as competitive. And we're restricted in the amount we can bring this way anyway so ultimately we're going to have to develop our own players."
OBJECTIVES: "I just want us to be proud of this club again - everybody. And I want to have the respect of our opponents.
"Go back to the eighties when it was Hull FC-Hull KR derbies, finals. Replicating that ... that's the goal because they are doing well. As much as people don't want them to, I actually think for the city having two teams, toe-to-toe competing in finals would be unbelievable. It would be an absolutely massive achievement for the sport, it would be huge.
"Success is getting this club back to a consistently high performing level.
"We will eventually get where we want to. It's just a matter of how many years that takes.
"I want a competitive team. I'm not saying we have to win every week. I don't think anybody wants to come to Hull and see a 50-0 drubbing.
"And I want to see smiles on faces ... if we can finish in a respectable position in the league and win as many games as we can, that's a success
