To say Jed Cartwright is excited for his first full season as a Hull FC player is an understatement. Arriving in East Yorkshire last summer, the Australian back-row forward got a cameo taste of Super League, but now he's ready to do it for real in 2025.

Fully fit and raring to go, the 28-year-old battled back from a week off sick with tonsillitis to line up against Castleford Tigers on February 1. Determined to play and put his best foot forward, Cartwright, son of head coach John, is now eager to watch a new-look side, who know the challenges ahead of them following a tough and undesired 2024 season, grow and grow.

With nine new faces, Hull, who begin their league account in Perpignan against Catalans Dragons on Friday night, have added their required experience, but with that experience, there's also youth, with the FC forward buoyed to see how the two dynamics develop this term.

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Speaking exclusively to Hull Live, Cartwright said: "I'm excited to watch us grow together. It's not all going to start perfectly; we've got a relatively new team, but I'm excited for us to grow both individually and as a team.

"Like everyone, we want to be fighting for it at the end. We know there's a long road and a lot of hard work ahead, but that's always the goal; every team is the same, and we'll take it week by week and see where we are and where we end up.

"I'm just looking forward to what's ahead. I'm really excited. Hopefully, all the good things that we've learnt this pre-season will come to fruition, and we can start off with a bang."

Undergoing a gruelling pre-season campaign, Hull were one of the first Super League sides back in training this winter, starting their programme on November 5. That has seen the squad put in over three months of blood, sweat, and tears, with just a week or so off during the Christmas period.

But in putting in the hard yards, Cartwright believes Hull are ready to show off their new identity, with a fresh-look side eager to put into plan the things they've been working on, from completion to attitude to effort to hard carries and earning the desired field position.

"We've been given a process to go through, and as a team, we need to stick to it," Cartwright continued. "We've come up collectively as a team with a way that we want to play and the identity that we want to have. I'm excited to get out there now on a weekend and lay down those footings on how we want to be as a team.

"For us, that goes on things like hard work and effort, but tactically as well, and making sure that we can hold our nerve and stick to what we're trying to do. That’s a big one; we don’t want to deviate from the plan. We have to stay composed in games.

"We learnt how we wanted to play quite early, and then it's been about getting the miles in our legs and making sure that we're ready for the season and the games ahead. But nothing gets you ready for a game like a game. There are a lot of games ahead now, and we want to go out there and win.

"There's also competition in this team, and there are plenty of players fighting for different spots. It keeps you on your toes and makes sure that you never take it easy out there. I'm excited to see how everyone goes."

Evolving since day one of pre-season, Hull's team spirit has also, in the eyes of their Australian back rower, gone up this winter, with Cartwright Senior putting a huge emphasis on their connection and cohesion. That stems from the field and in training, but also to how they socialise and spend time together off it.

"It's been tough," Cartwright added. "Day one of pre-season is always tough, especially with how early we started. You're rocking up knowing that you're going to get a battering for a long time, but everyone came in with a good attitude.

"It was a new team; a lot of them didn't know each other that well, but it's been good to see the new leaders come in and take over from the start. The younger guys too have learnt from them, and it's been really good watching them grow over the pre-season, find their feet, and be comfortable with it.

"They have stepped up, and they talk about things on the field, when they've gone right, but also when they've gone wrong. There's been a lot of growth in all of the players over the ten weeks that we've been back. It makes me really excited for the year ahead."