Hull Seahawks boss Matty Davies backs former club Leeds Knights to get the job done

His former club Leeds Knights play host in the final Yorkshire derby of the regular season in what is the first instalment for them of a hectic spell of nine games in 17 days, a period which will determine both their regular season title and National Cup aspirations.

Four points clear of second-placed Milton Keynes Lightning and with a game in hand on Tim Wallace’s team, Davies is willing the Knights to go on and clinch what he believes will be a fully-deserved league triumph.

“Will they win the league? Yes, they will,” insisted Davies, who played for the Knights in their debut 2021-22 campaign before returning to his hometown last summer to oversee the birth of the Seahawks.

It has been a tough first season for Hull, whose play-off hopes have effectively been over for some time. They have six games remaining in which to avoid finishing bottom of the standings.

Davies admits he would like his own team to emulate the way their Yorkshire rivals have developed both on and off the ice in their first two seasons under owner Steve Nell and head coach Ryan Aldridge.

“They are the best offensive team this league will probably have ever seen and it’s scary,” he added. “Their top two lines are better than anyone else’s top line - which is what makes it so difficult to play against them and a big reason as to why they are going to win the league.

“But seeing what Steve (Nell) has done, what the club has done, was one of the big reasons why I wanted to come back and do the Seahawks when the opportunity arose.

“Leeds are a little bit revolutionary in our league, they’ve come in and opened a lot of people's eyes.

“Yes, on the ice, they’ve got a really good product but it’s also how they are off the ice.

“They’ve pushed the boat out on what this league is really capable of doing, in terms of numbers into the arena, how they run their social media, everything. In one way, they are a professional club in a semi-professional league.”