Matty Davies confident Hull Seahawks returning for 2026-27 in better shape than ever before
THE NIHL National play-off final defeat for Hull Seahawks was naturally tough for head coach Matty Davies to stomach.
And while last season’s hurt of coming off second-best on perhaps the biggest stage of all in the second-tier will probably still take a long time to fade, Davies also realised his team’s ability to reach the final game of the campaign against Leeds Knights at Coventry’s SkyDome Arena in April was further proof his Seahawks teams were heading in the right direction.
He’d been close once before, of course, to a first piece of silverware with the team he helped launch in 2022, losing out to Milton Keynes Lightning over two nights in the NIHL National Cup final back in March 2024.
Confidence in the progress made over the last year is evident in the way Davies has recruited since that stinging 5-3 defeat to the Knights.
The changes made have been minimal, import forward Jordan Stallard making way for Patrick Brown and Cody Monds under the new quota of five non-British trained players now permitted for 2026-27.
The return of highly-rated British forward Finlay Ulrick is a further significant boost. Elsewhere, it is pretty much a case of as you were, teenage forwards Aiden Dancer and Will Durgan added on two-way deals with Hull Jets.
Last week, the partnership with the Elite League’s Manchester Storm was strengthened further when youngsters Noah Kääriäinen and Josh Crawley – who both featured last season for Hull – plus goalie Tyler de la Bertouche and defenceman Bailey Thomas, were all confirmed on two-way deals.
And on Friday, the Seahawks showed further proof of their intention to bring young British talent through by signing GB Under-18s forward Alex Rushby on a two-deal with North One’s Widnes Wild.
Two months out from the start of the season, Davies is quietly confident of landing that first piece of silverware – more than satisfied with the roster he has so far put together.
“Going into every year, we have goals, we want to try and win and over the past couple of years, we’ve got close to Coventry and we finished fourth for two seasons,” said Davies.
“This last season, we definitely took a stride forward, finishing second in the league was a big plus for us and then we got to Coventry, which was, again, massive.
“Then we got into the final, we got very close and it was obviously a tough way to end the season. But when you come away from it and you analyse where you've come from, last season is definitely a positive - we've got to see it that way.
“Now we've got to go again and I think we've improved again this year. I really like the team.
“I thought we finished the season with probably one of the best teams in the league, form-wise. We were difficult to play against, difficult to beat and so I wanted that same framework again.
“I just felt we needed to add bits around what we already had and I do feel we've improved as a team - but every other team has as well.”
On the addition of Rushby, who has come through the Nottingham junior system before making the move to Widnes, Davies added: “Alex is a player I’ve been told about for a good few years now and I really like what I’ve seen. He’s a big kid who can score and make plays.
"For me, it’s time he got minutes in the National to push himself and reach the potential I think everyone sees in him.
"He will add significantly to our forward core with another player to add real depth. There is an in-team fight for spots and I think it will only push all of them on to play at their highest level.”