Aidan Sezer insists he doesn’t have unfinished business - and Hull FC ’s golden oldies can see them rise again. The Aussie scrum-half is back for his third spell in Super League after a season with Wests Tigers in Sydney.

Previous stints at Huddersfield and Leeds ended without glory for Sezer, who led Canberra to a first NRL Grand Final appearance in 25 years in 2019. But Hull’s new captain told All Out Rugby League: “At Leeds, I had two years there and it was a bit of an up and down time with the club.

“There were a lot of things that went on but it’s in the past now. We made the Grand Final [in 2022] and had an opportunity to win the comp’. I didn’t play in that Grand Final because of a concussion and you can look at the negatives but I look at the positives.

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“I made a lot of good friends and experienced a Grand Final weekend. I have some fond memories. It is what it is. It’s not unfinished business; I know what sort of player I am. I’ve been around the game a long time. I know my strengths and what I can bring to the team. I’m looking to do that with Hull - and not focus on what’s happened in the past.”

Hull were dismal last year, winning just three Super League games all season and only finishing above bottom-placed London by virtue of a better points difference. But incoming Aussie coach John Cartwright, backed by new owner Andrew Thirkhill, has rung the changes ready to fire back in 2025.

They have signed a raft of experienced players including Sezer’s former Canberra team-mate Jordan Rapana, 35, plus Zak Hardaker, 33, John Asiata, 31, and Oli Holmes, 32, from Leigh. The club has still not won a league title since 1983 so is the start of a new era or another false dawn?

Ahead of Friday’s Super League opener at Catalans, Sezer said: “I can’t speak for the new owners. They’re going to have their own KPIs, goals and vision for the club long-term. But for me coming in at this stage of my career and for a lot of the other boys as well, we’re coming in to try and hit the ground running as quickly as possible.

“We’re not getting any younger and the club has brought in a lot of experienced guys for a good reason. We’ve a lot of youngsters in this squad and bringing in some older boys who are competitors, who have been there and done it and won things, hopefully that can bridge that gap.”

Meanwhile, Sezer, who was Man of Steel runner-up in his first season at Huddersfield in 2020, conceded being surprised to be back in the UK. He played under Cartwright at Gold Coast for three years and explained: “I didn’t expect to be coming back here.

“It was getting late on in the year and I was going to exercise my option at Tigers. But I had a brief conversation with Carty and that was all I needed. He’s a coach I’ve worked with before and I have the utmost respect for him. To be back under him at this stage of my career, is something I’m looking forward to - and it is everything I thought it’d be coming back.”

With Hull having released fellow new half-back Jordan Abdull before a ball is even kicked, there will be extra responsibility on Sezer. But he has backed his ability to get the Airlie Birds moving and said: “That’s my responsibility as a half-back: good talk, good communication, get the team around the park and provide what it needs. But it’s a club effort - and we’ll be doing it together. We’re looking forward to getting going.”