As a young Hull FC side prepare to face Bradford Bulls this weekend, Lewis Martin hopes to see a resilient showing from the Black & Whites.
It will be the first pre-season friendly of the 2024 campaign for Hull, with a youthful side expected to make the journey to Odsal on Sunday afternoon (2.00pm kick-off).
The youngsters have been showing positive signs over the last couple of years, and Sunday’s friendly will be an opportunity to truly catch the eye in the first-team environment.
But FC will come face-to-face with a Bradford side who already have two pre-season fixtures, defeating Halifax Panthers and narrowly losing to Featherstone Rovers.
Not too concerned about the opposition, Martin insists Sunday is all about his performance and how the rest of the team stand up to their West Yorkshire counterparts.
“For me, it’s about trying to impress Tony and take everything I’ve done into pre-season into this first friendly match,” he said.
“It’s going to be a young squad going over to Bradford. We want to go there and stand firm against them. We know it’s going to be a tight pitch – we’re going to challenge ourselves to fight as long as we can.
“I think showing that togetherness as a team is going to be really important for us.”
It won’t be Martin’s first appearance in Hull FC’s first-team. He previously featured for the club in the final match of the 2023 season, scoring on debut against St Helens at the Totally Wicked Stadium in a Man of the Match performance.
He’s also performed admirably for the Black & Whites’ Reserves last year, as the side fell just shy of a place in the Grand Final.
But he is ready to make the next step in his career as he plots more game time for Hull’s first-team side in 2024, and he understands the importance of the next few weeks in that regard.
“I would say it’s been my biggest and most important pre-season to date,” he said.
“But you don’t get picked in the team off one decent game at the end of the last season. I want to carry that form into these pre-season friendlies and try and give Tony [Smith] a difficult decision come Round One.
“One of Tony’s biggest beliefs is that if you’re good enough, you’ll play, despite age. It’s really motivating and I’m doing as much as I can to try and feature on a more regular basis this season.”
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