Released Hull FC man slams Richie Myler treatment with new season approaching

Free agent Jack Walker insists the blame lies with Hull FC’s Director of Rugby Richie Myler for the situation he finds himself in, currently still without a club with the new Super League season just weeks away.

Walker, once a Super League champion, returned for a second stint at Hull ahead of the 2024 campaign and scored five tries in 14 appearances across all competitions in a struggling FC side.

Having penned a two-year deal, the full-back still had 12 months left on his contract at the MKM Stadium and returned for pre-season with Hull as planned.

But come mid-November, he’d been released, alongside Morgan Smith and Liam Tindall – who have since taken up opportunities with Championship clubs.

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Released Hull FC man Jack Walker slams Richie Myler treatment with new season approaching

Walker himself played in the second tier in 2023, featuring six times for Bradford Bulls. But ahead of 2025, he has his sights set on staying in the top-flight, regardless of his current position.

Opening up on his release from Hull, he told Dave Craven of The Mirror: “I’m definitely confident I can play Super League. I’ve always had that work hard mentality, but it is just a tough situation.

“Richie Myler put me in this position. He could have told me when he came in (in April) but decided to tell me one week into pre-season. It put me in such a bad position.

“He knows what it’s like to be a player on that side of things, so I don’t understand why he’d do it like that.

“But it is what it is. I won’t be salty about it. Hopefully it works out in my favour – and I still back my ability.”

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‘It’s tough and lonely on the same treadmill at the same time in the same gym every single day’

Now 26, one-time England Knights international has 113 career appearances to his name – including those 14 he made last term for the Airlie Birds.

Over the last few months, he’s been posting about his gym programme on TikTok, undergoing his own version of pre-season in a bid to be as fresh as possible for if and when a club requires his services.

Walker continued: “It’s tough and lonely on the same treadmill at the same time in the same gym every single day. It’s just boring. It’s hard to describe. But it’s something I have to do, otherwise I’ll fall behind. I need to be ready.

“I’m not at a club so I don’t have access to strength and conditioning coaches or nutritionists. But I’ve been working with a personal trainer. It’s going really well. I’ve put on nine and half kilos since the end of the season.

“If I get a team, I’ll be playing at 85 or 86 kilos which is the heaviest I’ve been and I think I needed to do that.

“Before, having had such a big injury, my mindset was to be as light as possible so not much weight was going through that foot. It was a protection mindset.

“I’m bigger now, but have still been able to do that running. I feel good.”

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