06 September 2023 , 18:49
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Young NRL forward Franklin Pele reckons Hull is the place he can fulfil his potential after joining the Super League club from Canterbury Bulldogs.
The imposing prop, 22, has signed up on a two-year deal starting in 2024. A former Australian Schoolboys international, he has played most of his football in the NSW Cup. But Pele, who has a destructive ball-carrying style, made his NRL debut for Cronulla in 2021 before switching to Canterbury this season where he’s made 14 tackle busts in his six games so far.
Although still under contract at Bulldogs, who Hull say were keen to retain him, the player has deciced on switching to the UK where he will help offset the loss of Catalans-bound Chris Satae and retiring Scott Taylor at MKM Stadium. Pele said: "I’m really excited because it’s going to be a good challenge for me. I can’t wait to come over and meet all of the boys and the Hull fans, who I have heard great things about. I’m at the stage in my career now where I need to be playing consistent footy.
"Coming up against tough opposition in Super League week in, week out will help me go from strength to strength. Having spoken to Tony Smith and James Clark at the club, I know how much of an opportunity Hull FC is for me to be able to reach my full potential.”
Head coach Smith added: “A big part of Franklin coming over to Hull FC is his appetite to play regular Rugby League, and we’re extremely excited to have him in our ranks for 2024. He’s certainly a player our fans can get excited about. He’s a young, hungry forward who wants to establish himself as a good Rugby League player, which he already is, but he wants to keep growing.
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Canterbury's Franklin Pele takes on North Queensland Cowboys (Getty Images)“Franklin certainly adds size to our pack. He’s powerful, destructive and he’s got a good skillset. So he fits a lot of the right criteria that we have been looking for ahead of next year. I’m really looking forward to him bringing all of those ingredients to our team in 2024.”
Meanwhile, Hull club legend and assistant coach Gareth Ellis will leave at the end of the the season. The ex-Great Britain star, 42, initially joined as a player in 2012 and went on to lead them to successive Challenge Cup wins in 2016 and 2017. Ellis retired at the end of 2017 but returned to the team 18 months later before hanging up his boots for good at the end of the 2020 season.
He has served as an assistant coach for the past three years and said: "Rugby league has been my life since the age of 18, it is all I have known and now feels like the right time for me to explore new horizons and what else life has to offer."