Building togetherness at Black and Whites vital, says Houghton

HULL FC are right to focus on trying to bolster team unity and togetherness over pre-season, says Danny Houghton.

The Black and Whites returned to training at the start of November after a bitterly disappointing 2021 campaign in which they failed to claim a top six spot.

Brett Hodgson has identified the bond between his players as one area where the club can make strides forward, with the squad being encouraged to get to know each other a little better over the winter.

As such, the players have taken part in a number of team building sessions over the last few weeks, all in the aim of boosting team spirit, as well as the obvious fitness benefits.

“Hatto (Paul Hatton, FC’S head of conditioning) is pretty big on those tough runs and that team building aspect,” Houghton told the Mail.

“It’s real good, all the boys rip in and have a real dig to push each other through.

“We’re trying to build that togetherness up. The successful teams I’ve been a part of, that’s sort of why you are successful, you have that family feel and everyone enjoys each other’s company.

“That’s not just through good times but when times are hard you stick together and be as one.

“It fell away a little bit last year and it’s something that we’re trying to build back up.

“It’s something we need to do, we’ve started doing it and it’s really paying off even in these early weeks.”

Having been part of successful FC sides in the past, Houghton knows all about how important it can be to have a close-knit squad.

“In ‘16 and ‘17 we had that buzz,” he added. “I know we won and it’s easy to sort of say ‘oh back then’, but even when we went through that tough patch up to the Widnes game, we still had that collective and that pulled us through and made us what we was. In the past couple of years we maybe haven’t had that and it’s shown.

“If you have that unity, you can pull each other through when the chips are down.”