Hull FC appoint McNamara as Cartwright leaves

Hull FC have agreed a deal with Warrington Wolves to appoint Steve McNamara as their head coach from next season with John Cartwright stepping down immediately.

Cartwright had been set to exit at the end of this campaign, but the Super League club said he had "stepped away from his day-to-day duties as head coach with immediate effect".

They have also agreed to pay a "substantial transfer fee" to allow Wire assistant coach McNamara to leave his role.

McNamara, 54, started his playing career at Hull FC and has previously been in charge of England, Bradford Bulls and Catalans Dragons.

"John remains an employee of Hull FC, and the club would like to place on record its sincere thanks for his efforts during his time as head coach at Hull FC," the club said in a statement., external

Cartwright's assistant, Andy Last, will take on the role of interim head coach until the end of the current campaign.

McNamara's return to his boyhood club, where he made over 160 senior appearances as a player, comes tinged with controversy.

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.

McNamara is likely to be backed by co-owner Andrew Thirkill and director of rugby Richie Myler, overhauling the squad in his own manner, but he is also a coach that should instill confidence in Hull's homegrown talent - Lewis Martin, Davy Litten, Harvey Barron - all players who would find themselves a key part of the future vision.

You only have to look at the improvement at Warrington in 2026, McNamara has bolstered Sam Burgess' staff, his fingerprints are all over the upturn in fortunes, and the results are tangible.

Importantly, you feel McNamara will have time and tremendous goodwill from the fanbase. Time to build, time to implement and time to get it right.

Of course, that brings extra pressure, being that 'hometown' appointment with the expectation he can drive Hull towards becoming a genuine force. McNamara is in the career arc you feel will give him the ability to cope.

As for Cartwright, his immediate stepping down from day to day duties but remaining as an employee comes after his public dismay at the manner of his exit being announced last week.

The 60-year-old is a proud man, whose affection within the club was evident at Thursday's loss to St Helens from both fans and players.

However, he will now step aside and an equally Hull-embedded figure in Andy Last will take the interim reins. Last is steeped in the club and while he might well be a temporary measure, this is not his first cameo of this nature with the Airlie Birds.