Hull Seahawks coach Matty Davies on why he is happy to see the 'real' Lee Bonner

The 26-year-old forward came ‘home’ in the summer, having spent the previous two seasons at NIHL National rivals, Sheffield Steeldogs.

Prior to that, Bonner was all-in with hockey in his hometown, progressing through the Kingston Sharks ranks as a junior before making his senior bow with Hull Jets and, later during the 2013-14 season, with Hull Stingrays, where he made 17 appearances.

A season in North America followed before Bonner came home to be part of the Hull Pirates, where he remained until Covid brought down the curtain early on the inaugural NIHL National season in March 2020.

After being one of the many UK hockey players who missed an entire season as a result of lockdown, Bonner returned to the ice with the Steeldogs in 2021-22, where he played a pivotal role in Greg Wood’s team enjoying a Cup and play-off double.

Resisting the urge to be part of the Seahawks’ first campaign under Davies, there was no doubt where his priorities lay when his former team-mate came calling earlier this summer.

Davies acknowledges that Bonner has found the adjustment difficult at times on his return but believes recent weeks have begun to produce a return of the player that everyone grew to love during the successful Pirates years, where he helped them - along with Davies and under player-coach Jason Hewitt - land a treble in 2019.

Two goals in the 11-1 thrashing of Bristol Pitbulls on Sunday are further proof of the feisty Bonner’s growing contribution to the Seahawks’ cause. It took his points tally for the season to 11 in 19 appearances, six of them goals.

“I’m really happy with Lee,” said Davies. “A couple of weeks ago we had a chat and I know what he can do.

“I’ve played with him, I’ve known him a long time and how good he can be. When he is at it, there are not many as good as him.

“He’s got himself in better shape, you can see him out there flying around, hitting guys and shooting and it was (just) a matter of time until the real ‘Bones’ was here really.

“I’m happy for him. It’s tough because he wants to play well, he wants to do so well for his hometown club and to get the results back (from his efforts) is great - he looked really good out there on Sunday.”

The result saw Hull post a welcome four-point weekend, a good response to coming out of the previous weekend against title rivals Milton Keynes Lightning and Peterborough Phantoms empty-handed.

This weekend sees them face defending league and play-off champions Leeds Knights for the first time competitively, heading to Elland Road on Friday before facing off against each other again in Hull the following evening.

“We’ve probably got the hardest week coming up that we’ll have had all season with the back-to-back games against Leeds,” added Davies.

“Part of Sunday was about getting a good feeling rolling into Friday and a night like Sunday against Bristol will only be good for confidence.”