Hull Seahawks: Matty Davies on why it was vital to keep hold of Jason Hewitt

Hewitt, 42, posted 78 points, including 18 goals, in 55 appearances last season as the Seahawks sealed a second consecutive fourth-place regular season finish.

But disappointment followed when they failed to make it out of the group phase in the play-offs, missing out on the Final Four Weekend at Coventry’s SkyDome Arena.

That was a bitter pill for Davies and his team to swallow given their stated aim ahead of the 2024-25 campaign was to lift their first piece of silverware - having finished runners-up to Milton Keynes Lightning in the National Cup in 2023-24.

Head coach Davies is keen to bring in the key pieces he thinks were missing in the Seahawks’ trophy push last season, with former GB international and Sheffield Steelers forward Hewitt considered a vital ingredient.

“He is somebody who has been there and done it and won,” said Davies. “But the biggest thing is that he cares about the club, where we’re going and what we are trying to achieve here..

“He probably had other options to go elsewhere but I think he sees what we’re doing here as being the right place for him.

“There’s no doubt that next year his role will slightly change on the ice. It’s on me to try and make sure that we have enough quality in depth and Hewy is a big part of that - he still has a massive role for us.

“He had a tough year at times and struggled to score at the rate that he wanted to, but he still came up with some really big goals for us and other big moments.

“That showed he is still performing at the level we want him to and that he wants to be performing at.

“He is someone that we wanted to keep because he cares deeply and he has that desire to win.”

That desire was exemplified most, says Davies, when it came to Hull’s play-off campaign, which saw Hewitt play through the pain barrier having sustained an ankle injury late on in the regular season in a hot-tempered clash at Bristol Pitbulls, a match which led to captain Bobby Chamberlain missing all but one of the play-off group games.

“Hewy pretty much played throughout the play-offs with a pretty bad ankle injury and that just shows you what he is still willing to do for this team,” added Davies.

“It wasn’t great for him and he was gutted because he was just starting to find his game going into the play-offs and then obviously that happened and it was a tough one for him.”