Litten Encouraged By Pre-Season Display

Litten Encouraged By Pre-Season Display

The youngster assesses his first pre-season performance of 2023

Club News

Davy Litten says his performance in Hull FC’s 22-20 pre-season victory over Sheffield Eagles on Sunday has set the benchmark for the year that lies ahead of the young fullback.

The 19-year-old came off the bench at half-time and helped Hull come from behind in the second-half to secure victory in their first pre-season outing of the year.

His appearance follows his Super League debut towards the end of the 2022 campaign.

But Litten has made giant strides since his performances in pre-season twelve months ago.

Nonetheless, the youngster isn’t resting on his laurels and he is chomping at the bit to get more game time in the top flight this season.

“I’m still young, but that’s not an excuse for me anymore and I want to be playing Super League this year. I’ll be patient, but I feel like I took my opportunity well against Sheffield – that’s my baseline now and I need to be better than that every week,” he explained.

“But I’m ecstatic with the progress I have made over the last twelve months.

“Last year, physically, I probably wasn’t where I needed or wanted to be. But I feel there or thereabouts now. I found my front in most tackles on Sunday and I got into plenty of attacking opportunities.

“The focus for me is going to be on taking those chances when they come, but I feel like I’m making good progress at the minute.”

Litten was the regular fullback for Hull FC Reserves last season, in a campaign that saw the ‘A’ team narrowly miss out on a Grand Final appearance.

Not only was scoring a handful of tries handy for boosting his confidence, but playing regular footy at open age level was incredibly beneficial for the starlet, whose physical development has skyrocketed in a short space of time.

Still, his hunger for try-scoring hasn’t waned over that time. He came close to crossing the whitewash on three separate occasions in Sunday’s friendly and he’s desperate to claim his first senior try for the Black & Whites.

“I think I got the first one down to be honest, but the referee said no. Then the chip and chase – the ball just wouldn’t fall kindly for me. And with the third one, I just spotted a big space and went for it,” he said.

“I could’ve maybe passed that one, but it’s about creating opportunities and I think I created a fair few there.

“I’ll still take that away, have a hard look in the video session and see if there was a better option on with a pass or a different way of trying to put the ball down.”