More silverware for Hull FC would be ideal send off for Motu Tony

Motu Tony, Hull FC football manager. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

The former Kiwi international, who scored a try during Hull’s 2005 Challenge Cup final win, has been in his current role for the last four years.

Working alongside head coach Lee Radford, he has been pivotal in assembling a squad that led Super League for most of last year and finally won at Wembley, too.

Tony, who played 109 games for the Airlie Birds including the 2006 Grand Final, said: “After 13 years in England, my family and I felt it was the right time to return at the end of this season in order to spend more time with our extended families.

“It will be really difficult to leave a club and its loyal supporters that have treated my family and I so well but I leave knowing that the club is in good hands on and off the field.

“I’m grateful to (chairman) Adam Pearson for the opportunity he gave me in 2013 to return to this great club as well as to Lee, the coaching staff and the players for all their efforts in my time here.

“The Wembley win last season is an experience I will remember fondly for a very long time.

“However, I am hoping that I can still play a minor part in helping Lee and the team win more silverware before I return to New Zealand later in the year.”

Tony – now aged 35 – initially arrived in Super League with Castleford Tigers from Brisbane Broncos in 2004 but played just a handful of matches before joining their Yorkshire rivals the following season.

After leaving Hull at the end of 2009, he switched codes briefly with Hull RUFC before heading to Whitehaven and eventually Wakefield Trinity before retiring in 2012.

Hull, who sit second in Super League, head to bottom-placed Widnes Vikings on Sunday, opponents who have been surprised by winger Corey Thompson’s decision to also return home next season.

The Australian, who scored 27 tries in his debut campaign last season after joining from Canterbury Bulldogs, only signed a new two-year deal last August.

However, he has activated a NRL ‘Opt Out’ clause in his contract for 2018.