WE’D LIKE TO KEEP CAM
BUT TONY SMITH ADMITS HULL STAR SCOTT COULD BE LOST TO RIVAL
TONY Smith hasn’t ruled out losing young Hull FC centre Cameron Scott to Wakefield Trinity.
The Mail reported yesterday that the ambitious Championship club have tabled an offer to the 24-yearold, with the Black and Whites locked in a battle to keep the player.
Scott’s representatives have aired their wage increase demands, with Wakefield putting in a lucrative offer.
Hull, meanwhile, are in discus- sions over his future, with Smith stating that those talks are ongoing ‘as we speak’ and if anyone says the deal is already done, then they know ‘more than me.’
Speaking about Scott’s future, Smith said: “I’ll believe anything once I know it is true and if it’s true and people know, then there you go, they know more than me.
“We’ve had some talks. I know our CEO has talked to his agent. He’s a great kid and we’d love to have him. He’s great to work with. If we can afford him, we’ll keep him, but if he wants to go, he’ll go.
“Do we want people like Cam to stay here? Absolutely, we do. Will these young players have some big decisions to make about their futures? Yeah, they will. Our chief executive will work through that with his agent, hopefully as we’re speaking. Could it be happening? Absolutely, it could.”
Smith also stated the anti-tampering deadline of May 1 is a load of ‘nonsense’ with the rule broken all the time. The rules state no club may talk to or approach out-of-contract players before the date set, but that isn’t the case with deals getting done throughout rugby league circles.
“Those things happen all year round now,” Smith added. “There are no cut-off dates. Their agents are talking to clubs well before that May 1 date comes around. They talk all year round.
“Having that date is just nonsense. There are a lot of done deals from what I’m hearing from all different players from all different clubs. There’s nothing stopping anybody from doing that.
“Deals are getting done at other clubs and that club (Wakefield) has been very active in the market and prepared to probably spend more money than some others would spend. As long as they’re doing it all within the cap and within the rules and the regulations, then so be it.”
Tony Smith is confident he is the man to lead Hull FC’S rebuild, referring back to his track record as an experienced head coach. The Black and Whites have a huge job at hand to turn around their fortunes, from performance to results to cultures, with owner Adam Pearson hiring Smith to make those desires a reality.
And while Saturday’s 54-4 defeat to Leigh was as low as any result seen in Smith’s tenure, the 57-year-old believes he is making inroads in terms of changing cultures within the squad. However, he insisted it is a long-term process, and despite the ongoing frustrations, which arguably peaked over the weekend, it will take time to get the club to where it wants to be.
Speaking in his weekly press conference, Smith said: “We’re changing culture but we’re a long way off being a consistent performing team. We’re not there yet so we’re going to have some bad days. My job is to try and get it so it’s not so frequent and often.
“I was asked to come here to this club to change the culture and it is changing within. Anybody who is about it and around it will tell you that. The players themselves will see some things changing and tell you so.
“It won’t happen quickly and it won’t happen overnight, it rarely does, but I was asked to come in and help change things in that respect. If you look at my past, my first job was with a team that was on the verge of relegation each and every year at Huddersfield, and we turned that around to become a fairly successful club in terms of they are always around the mid to top of the competition. It was nice to leave them that way.
“My other qualification for this position was my next job at Leeds Rhinos. They hadn’t won a competition in 32 years and by the time I left there, we had played in three Grand Finals and won two of them. Then at Warrington, we weren’t part of the big four, and by the time we left there, we had been in four Challenge Cup finals and won three and been in three Grand Finals.
“I turned that one around as well and now they’re talked about as being part of the big four and for a lot of years.
“I then went to another perennial yo-yo team in Hull KR where they were up and down, bouncing in and out of Super League, but by the time I left there, we had played in a couple of semi-finals. So I think my qualifications are okay for this. Maybe I’ve got lucky in all of those places. Maybe I’ve had a whole lot of luck or maybe I turned the culture around at places.
“Adam knows that. We’re just cracking on and going through the processes. Is there going to be some hurt along the way? Absolutely, there is. Are we making progress? Absolutely, we think we are.”
Aware of what needs to happen, the message throughout the club is unity, with Smith having the backing to turn it all around.
However, the reality is that Hull are at a different starting point after years of decline, with a long road now to get back up to the desired levels.
“We need to toughen up and work harder,” Smith continued. “All those things are being addressed. We’re aware of them. We’re just not going to fix them overnight. We’d love to talk about them and then they’re fixed, but it doesn’t work like that.
“Anybody who runs any sort of business knows that, and goes through that tough time where they need to keep that perseverance and get tougher and work harder and smarter. We think we’re doing some of that. We’re still going to get beaten, just like we hope to beat some other teams on our days as well. We want to be a high-performing team regularly as soon as we can but it’s not an easy thing to do in Super League.
“We’re trying to pick up things that need fixing. It’s part of our culture and each place has a different starting point. It depends on its history and it’s been some time since we’ve had a really strong competitive team at the top of the competition.
“We’ve got to fight our way back to being that. I’m in it for the battle until we are and when we are I’ll be striving to take it to the next step.
“We’re not there yet and we’ve got to be working hard to do that by working smart, getting more determined, and more united.
“One of the things about sports is that you can only be great when you are strong and united and whenever you split, it makes the whole job harder. I know there are people out there who aren’t happy at the moment. They’re not happy with the results and some of the performances. I can understand that, but we’re striving to be better.
“That’s what I got hired to do by my owner and chief executive and they’ve been great and we’re united on that. We understand exactly what needs to happen and we’re going through those processes. I’m grateful for that support. They visit regularly. We speak regularly. They’ve seen transformations and we’re united on that, and the players are united on that. We’ve just got to crack on with our work.”