Hull FC appoint McNamara as Cartwright leaves
Cartwright's exit was announced earlier this month, but in a candid interview with BBC Radio Humberside earlier this week, the Australian said it "wasn't mutual" and claimed he felt "betrayed and disrespected". Having taken over for the 2025 season, after the Black and Whites' miserable 2024 campaign in which they won just three Super League matches, 60-year-old Cartwright led a much-improved showing last year as they narrowly missed out on the play-offs. The initial announcement of his exit had stated he would continue in the role until the end of the season, yet Thursday's loss to St Helens proved to be his final game.
Announcing McNamara's return to the club, the Black and Whites said that he "remains fully committed" to his current role as assistant to Warrington boss Sam Burgess. McNamara's previous head coach role at Catalans saw him enjoy plenty of success. During his time with Les Dracs, he led them to a first-ever Challenge Cup in 2018, as well as a League Leaders' Shield and two Super League Grand Final appearances before he departed in 2025.
"We believe Steve is the right person to lead Hull FC into our next phase and are thrilled with his appointment," Hull FC Chairman Andrew Thirkill said. "His experience, leadership and standards will be critical as we build a team capable of competing consistently at the top of Super League. " Even without the obvious emotional attachment, Steve McNamara feels like an excellent appointment for Hull FC; after all there are few coaches on the market who have his calibre, his experience, his list of achievements.
Hull is a notoriously intense place to be involved in rugby league, a goldfish bowl of passion and expectation that McNamara as much as anyone will be aware of and ready for, but also who understands and feels that passion himself. It is an acquisition for the Black and Whites that makes total sense. John Cartwright has established a good culture at Hull since taking over, but you sense McNamara can take them even further.
He went into Catalans and changed the club from a stop-off point for expensively recruited flawed yet gifted imports into a proper 'team'. The Dragons won a Challenge Cup and made two Grand Finals, despite all of the trials and tribulations faced by the Perpignan club in terms of travel and financial costs. After being thrust into the Bradford job as a young coach, taking on England equally in the relative infancy of his career and having developed his coaching as a highly-rated assistant in the NRL with Sydney Roosters and New Zealand Warriors before his Catalans adventure, McNamara has armed himself with a variety of skills and experiences.