Hull Seahawks’ head coach Matty Davies reflects on the 2023-24 NIHL National season and discusses what his and the team’s expectations should be for the 2024-25 campaign ...
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00:00Just quickly on that scene, overall, presumably very pleased, but also mixed in there with
00:12a bit of disappointment that you didn't quite go that one more step, particularly in the
00:17cup final, I guess.
00:19Yeah, I think obviously, you know, just generally as a club, I think where we've sort of, you
00:25know, come from, you know, you can never, you know, expect to just come in and, you
00:32know, hit the ground running.
00:33And obviously we had the first year, like you mentioned, and it was difficult.
00:38You know, I always knew we'd have, you know, we'd have a second season that would be a
00:43little bit more, you know, sort of us and the plans that I knew that we'd, you know,
00:50be able to bring in some lads that are either, you know, from the area or, you know, at
00:56least have been here before.
00:59And yeah, obviously import-wise, you know, we needed to make a, you know, take a step.
01:05Obviously we brought back Emile, but yeah, we obviously, we signed pretty well, I think,
01:12you know, bringing Sobchak in sort of halfway through was a big sort of moment, I think,
01:18for us and something that we missed in the team last year.
01:22I think he definitely helped us within sort of just getting us, you know, just that threat
01:29on the ice being, you know, being able to create more and he sort of, you know, he sort
01:39of gelled everything that we had already and made it sort of, you know, like the players
01:44that we've got that can score goals.
01:46I think he brought that aspect to it a little bit more.
01:51And I think, yeah, just generally, well, it's easy to be sort of annoyed about it, but at
01:57the end of the day, from where we, you know, we've started the club, you know, generally
02:02we had a, we made a big stride.
02:04And now I think for me, it's just, you know, all them talks of, you know, not being here
02:11and not being there for very long or the club just start, I mean, that's all gone now.
02:15So now it's just about, you know, trying to, you know, trying to compete and get a
02:23team that's going to be, you know, ready to really compete with the best in the league.
02:28And it's a long season, mate, and I think, you know, you've got to make sure that, well,
02:37I have been trying to make sure that the team that I sign is one that I know can last the
02:44distance in terms of the type of player that I think this league requires to win games
02:51regular and to win against, not, I mean, what we found last year is, you know, we had a
02:59really good time against the better teams and then there was times when we sort of let
03:06ourselves down a little bit against the, you know, middle to lower end teams.
03:10So, you know, I think in this league, or in any league really, both Elite League and
03:16this league, I don't think you can, you can't be complacent and there's always someone that's
03:23there to, you know, willing to come in and make an upset or a big statement.
03:29And, you know, obviously like, you know, now it's changed a little bit with sort of where
03:33we are, you know, signing big players and, you know, well-known players around the league
03:39and around the country, it's, it brings that aspect of, you know, like Leeds have got now
03:45where, you know, MK as well, like, you know, the perception is, you know, we spend a lot
03:50of money and we're, you know, signing all these, you know, good players, better players,
03:55which, you know, it's sort of true, but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's not as well.
04:00So I think playing sort of that other side of it where teams are going to want to come in
04:06and, I guess, upset the, the cart of what people think is going to happen.
04:12You know, it doesn't matter who you sign or what you've got, right now it matters during
04:18the year and being able to, you know, back it up every night.
04:22And I think sort of what we've signed this year is just a bit more experienced and a
04:28bit more, you know, I use the word knack with, with Huey, but it is that sort of knack to
04:36just be able to win games.
04:40And I think that goes a long way, you know, especially for us anyway.
04:44I think we, look, we, we're in a spot, you know, we are a little bit, we're different
04:48in to Leeds, like everyone's different to Leeds and I keep mentioning Leeds because
04:52Leeds have won the league for two years, so, you know, people might think, you don't talk
04:58about them a lot, but that's the stick, that's the measuring stick, right?
05:01And I think they're going to be good again this year and, and, you know, sort of being
05:09close to us in sort of distance, proximity wise, it's, you know, they've got probably
05:15two of the best young players in the league and in the country, so it's one of them where,
05:20you know, you have to sign a team that, that fits where the club is not only geographically,
05:27but, you know, just in general of where you can pull from and, and, and that's, that's
05:34what we've got.
05:35So, I'm really happy, I'm really happy with the team we've got going in.
05:39And, and like I say, I think from last year, there's a lot of disappointment, it's still
05:45within the players that are obviously coming back because I think, I think they realise
05:49that we left it on the table a little bit and, and we should have been in Coventry.
05:54I know that's an easy thing to say and probably annoys a lot of people that I say them things,
05:59but I'm pretty, I can be pretty honest about teams and players and the teams that we've
06:05played last year, even games when we have lost, you know, generally we dominated quite
06:11a lot of teams even in time, you know, but that again, doesn't always give you the full
06:16picture.
06:17So, yeah, for us, it was just shoring up what we needed to, to do, and obviously Demo is
06:24a big part of that and we spoke about that, me and you, and I think he brings that stability
06:29at the back that, and he's won, so that's a big part of it as well.
06:36You mentioned, you mentioned Debitis and Ozil obviously, and you mentioned about making
06:40big signings, statement signings, whatever you want to call it, and David Phillips is
06:44another one of those.
06:45Do you think that automatically just raises expectation levels, not just in and around
06:51your team and club, but around the league as well and other people watching on among
06:57your rivals?
06:58I'm not too worried about people watching on and what they think.
07:02I hope it raises the expectations of the boys because what I found last year was, especially
07:10at the beginning, a lot of the messaging from me was, especially at the start, and I said
07:16to the lads, I'm not going to mention this again, but I wanted everything from the previous
07:21year forgot about and sort of that all, not the fact that, you know, we worked hard and
07:27the lads that were there in that year, you know, had done a great job for me, but it
07:33was more of the, that whole thing of feeling sorry for yourself, we're a new team, you
07:38know, we're a new team, we're not meant to do this, we're not meant to do that, and it's
07:44just an easy excuse to make, you know, for losing games, basically, and, you know, last
07:52year was, the message was that, again, at the start, I guess, was just forget about
07:57all that.
07:58We're here to win and, you know, the team that we had last year was there, was built
08:01to win and, like I say, moving on to this year, it's, I hope it does raise expectations
08:09with them boys in that room because they all need to know that, you know, this team has
08:15been put together to win.
08:18You know, we're not here to, I always say that, you know, we're not here to take part,
08:23I mean, that's a given, but, you know, generally, I think what we've got is a team that, you
08:29know, I'm not going to say anything about winning the league or we're going to win this,
08:34I just, what I have got is a good group of players and a good group of lads that I know
08:39them all, personally, and it's the thing of, they all know that it's something that this
08:50club really wants to do, you know, I mention it to everybody that, you know, this, you
08:55know, we've come from a Pirates days where we, you know, we dominated, I guess, and then
09:02it fell away and also just, I think, for Hull, in general, for this league, I think it's
09:08trying to get people, not people from outside, but it's more the inside of people that understand
09:16that a Hull team has been in the Elite League for a long time before, you know, this league
09:25and to drop down into this league, I think, no matter what, you know, people think, I
09:30guess it's my feeling because I've been there and I was there in the Elite League days that
09:36I feel like Hull, in this second league, should be a real top team and that's just being honest
09:42that, you know, we've got, you know, probably one of the, you know, up there with the biggest
09:48sort of arenas in terms of seating and history as well, yeah, we've got a lot of history,
09:55you know, the following is growing really, you know, quite a lot in the past two years,
10:00it's grown a lot and it's probably busier now than it's ever been and I think it's my
10:07duty to put a team on the ice and a team in this city that can win and will fight for,
10:17you know, all the different trophies that are on, you know, on offer and I think as
10:22well, I just, I wouldn't want to do this just, you know, to do it, I don't really do
10:27things like that.
10:28Just make up the numbers.
10:29Yeah, it's, you know, and the other thing is, obviously, I'm not playing anymore, I've
10:35still got that and I'm young enough to still play, it's sort of like, you know, I've still
10:40got that competitive side of me that, you know, all I want to do is win really, so it
10:46sort of seeps through to the full club, I think.
10:51So yeah, just going back to the question, I hope it does raise their expectations, I
10:55want it to because they all should know that, you know, this club is here to win in this
11:01league.