07 November 2023 , 18:00
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Francis Cummins is back in rugby league after the ex-Great Britain international was appointed Hull FC’s head of emerging talent.
The former Bradford and Widnes boss takes over from Michael Shenton who left last week to become Daryl Powell’s assistant coach at Wakefield. Ironically, Cummins’ last role was as Wakefield No2 to Willie Poching last year. He knows Hull chief Tony Smith well having played under him at Leeds and started his coaching career there before also working with the Australian at Warrington.
But Cummins, 47, has now joined the East Yorkshire club’s Centre of Excellence programme where he will work alongside Hull’s head of youth Pete Riding. He will coach the club’s academy and reserves set-up next season and knows all about breaking into first-team rugby at a young age having debuted for Leeds at just 16. Cummins, who scored 188 tries in 356 games for Rhinos before being on the coaching staff for one of their finest eras, said: “I’m really pleased to be taking up this role.
“To be able to get the opportunity to work with the club’s next generation of talent is a really exciting one for me. The club have invested heavily in the junior setup and pathways over the last few years, and some fantastic groundwork has been put in place to build on. The club has a clear vision from the top down for making their youth programme the backbone of the club for many successful years to come, and that really grabbed me.
“It’s now for me and the rest of the staff to make sure that we push more players through to the first-team and nurture some of the region’s most talented young players. I actually paid a visit to the University of Hull earlier in the year to spend some time with Tony, and the facilities really blew me away – they’re excellent and all in one place. I know there’s more development to come too, so it’s a great programme to be a part of right now.”
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