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Breaking: Coach Matty Davies Explains Why the Seahawks Have the Perfect Mix of Progress and Balance
MATTY DAVIES believes his Hull Seahawks team will offer a more balanced threat in NIHL National this season.
Having come through the pre-season Yorkshire Cup against White Rose rivals Leeds Knights and Sheffield Steeldogs on top – crowned winners of the tournament after their 4-1 win over the regular season league champions Leeds on Sunday – Davies and his players enter the 2024-2025 campaign in good spirits.
On paper, this weekend’s home-and-away opener against Bristol Pitbulls – who finished rock bottom last time out – should present little trouble, with many expecting Hull to get their season off to a positive start.
That confidence comes despite entering the campaign without two of last season’s key contributors in the shape of top line defensive pair Declan Balmer and Brock Bartholomew.
But while Davies may have lost some offensive output from his back line – in theory at least – he believes he has more than made up for it.
Veteran Jason Hewitt comes back to East Yorkshire from the Steeldogs to anchor the second line, joined by former Sheffield team-mate James Spurr, who will centre the third, with the youthful Owen Bruton and Declan Jones either side of him.
Add in a top line that is likely to start the season sporting Emil Svec and Bobby Chamberlain either side of Owen Sobchak and it becomes easier to understand Davies’s confidence in his core group – particularly when he has already added GB international defenceman Dave Phillips to fill in a big part of the gap left on the back end.
Throwing in returning D-man Lee Haywood and fellow former Steeldog Dimitri Zimozdra in net – long-regarded by many as among the best stoppers at this level – is also guaranteed to help breed optimism.
ut we’ve done things to counteract that,” said Davies. “Right through from the goalies and D through to the forwards we’ve brought in.
“I actually think we’re bit more solid in my at the back, but I know we’re better up front, too – I believe there’s just a better all-round balance.
“You have to move on and change and improve where you can.
“Brock was very much an offensive defenceman and although we got Dave in to effectively replace Brock, he is a different kind of player to Brock – Dave is more defensive, more solid on D and so much more experienced.
So a different player but, being honest, he will be better defensively than Brock was.
“And we possess a lot more offence in our forwards this year, because of the depth we’ve now got.
“Being able to put Spurrsy on that third line with Dec and Owen just brings an added dimension to that line.
“And then Hewey on that second line with Bonner and Kaden Hanas – you are looking at great depth.”
That depth is what helped the Seahawks come out on top in the Yorkshire Cup, the culmination of a warm-up period that left their coach pleased with the progress made.
“There are always things that happen in pre-season that throw you out, whether it is injuries or new players coming in,” he added. “But we’ve had three good weeks or so together now and I think Sunday was a good example of the work we’ve been putting in coming off.
“I’m happy with where we’re at and we’ve found a good balance within the team and we’re healthy going into this weekend after what has been a productive few weeks.”
