John Cartwright on Jordan Rapana’s retirement and what could come next.
John Cartwright has paid tribute to outgoing Hull FC player Jordan Rapana – labelling the Kiwi’s efforts this year as ‘selfless.’
Rapana will call time on his professional career at the end of the 2025 season, making his retirement decision after several weeks of deliberation.
He’s played in all of the full-back, centre, wing, and half-back positions this year, with the player playing a somewhat utility role given the strong emergence of young Hull flyers Harvey Barron and Lewis Martin.
But that role has suited Rapana just fine, with Cartwright outlining his impact at the club. The head coach told Hull Live: “He came in fresh and he’s just a winner – he’s been a winner his whole career. He competes hard and he never worries about the opposition or whoever is in front of him.
“He backs his own game and leads the way on and off the field. He’s been a tremendous asset for me personally, just to have a leader of his type. He’s always good to have around and he never lets the attitude within the group drop, no matter what we are facing and that’s been really evident over the last three or four weeks.
“He’s just given us everything that we signed him for. He’s been a great guide off the field for these younger guys who are playing. He’s also a hugely popular member of the group and he is as selfless a player as you’ll come across.
“He was here for two years originally – I’ve been chatting to him for a fair while now and he’s had concerns about his body and not getting in the place of someone else. That’s what it’s solely about.
“But again, as far as players go, he’s totally selfless; he’s given everything he physically can, and he’s going to be missed. I’ve really enjoyed coaching him again. He was only a kid when I had him last time and he’s certainly changed a lot, but he’s been a fantastic signing for the club and we wish him all the best. We want to send him out the right way now and go as far into this competition as we can.”
Expanding on the emergence of Barron and Martin, Cartwright continued: “It’s unfortunate that his (Rapana’s) best position has always been on the wing, and we didn’t want to block the pathway of Lewis and Harvey.
“Tom Briscoe is another one that has had to play in different positions, but those boys have just got better and better and if they didn’t play the amount of first grade that they have, they might not be at this stage in their development now.
“So again, it’s been selfless from both Tommy and Jordan; they’ve accepted their role in the team and whenever I’ve had to shift them around, they’ve accepted it’s always been about what’s best for the team. It’s a great attitude to have and a great lesson for the young boys to learn from.”
Of course, Rapana’s retirement decision opens up a quota spot for 2026, with Hull having the scope to recruit again. They have salary cap space in the locker and have openly targeted the centre position.
But with centres in short supply, the door hasn’t been shut on an extension for prop forward Ligi Sao, who is out of contract and progressing well after a knee injury ruled him out for the season back in February.
Asked about recruitment and the quota, Cartwright, aiming not to be insensitive, said: “All of those things will happen, but it’s about Jordan at the moment.
“It’s out in the open now and he’s been thinking about it for a long time, but out of respect for Jordan, we haven’t done anything. We’ve been waiting for that decision and it’s there now. Outside of that, we haven’t thought any deeper.”