The former Hull FC back on his return to Super League, re-joining the Bulls, and going up against his best mate.
Former Hull FC outside back Connor Wynne. (Image: )
Connor Wynne hasn’t had it easy on his journey back to Super League, but come Valentines Night, he’ll be a top flight player once again.
The opposition couldn’t be more fitting, with the Hull-born back, who has signed a one-year deal with Bradford Bulls for the 2026 season, going up against Hull FC at the MKM Stadium and if all goes to plan, one of his best mates in Davy Litten.
Comfortable in both the centre and wing roles, Wynne knows a solid finish to pre-season at the Bulls could bring with it that eventuality, and he’s determined to do all he can to make it happen.
And for a player who almost quit rugby league altogether following his exit from the Black and Whites two years ago, it would be a moment full of sentiment, and one fully deserved after working hard to get back to the top.
“It’s been a journey,” Wynne, speaking to Hull Live, said. “But I’ll be doing the best I can now to get in the team for the Hull game and if I do, then I’ll be up against my best mate Davy.
“It’d be good to go up against him and see what’s what. That’s my goal now but I need to make sure I put my best foot forward in the pre-season games to give myself the best chance possible to get selected.
“It’s been a tough pre-season, but it’s been what I needed as a player coming back into that full-time environment, to hopefully take my game to the next level. That’s what people have been labelling me, challenging me, saying, ‘He’s got the potential to do this and that,’ but it’s down to me to do it now.
“I think the right thing for me to do was to go back full-time and prove myself again and get my name back out there, really. I’ll be looking to do just that this year.”
A big motivation for Wynne is his friendship with Litten, with the two players regularly in contact and trying to help improve each other’s games.
“We see each other pretty much every day and we speak to each other every day,” Wynne continued. “It will feel a bit weird if we do get to go up against each other but we’ve got a job to do for our teams. We’re both grown up and professional enough to put it all aside for a day and then go back to being best mates again after.
“We’re really close – we talk to each other after every game literally. We text each other, he asks me what I could do better and I ask him what I could do better. We always ask each other for our thoughts.
“We play similar positions so it helps us understand defensive reads and things like that. We’re always learning off each other. He’s getting a lot more experience, he played a lot of games last year, so he’s only going to be better for that, but yeah we constantly text and we watch the games together sometimes on TV. He’s a great lad and a great player. That’s what rugby league is all about. You meet some great people and you get mates for life.”
It’s those mates who have been crucial for Wynne over the last two years. Almost quitting the game altogether, the outside back found his love for rugby league again in a loan spell at Bradford, and after two years at Featherstone, he had no second thoughts when the call came from Bradford to sign again – albeit it was Hull KR he nearly joined first.
“I was due to sign for KR and I was a bit gutted at the time not to, but it is what it is,” Wynne said on that collapsed move. “I won’t dwell on it. I’ve just got to prove that I’m ready to be a Super League player for Bradford.
“Bradford is the main priority for me and I’ve just to make sure I prove myself there. They showed a lot of faith in me two years ago, Nobby and Greeny – they’re still at Bradford, and Grace, who was the physio at the time – they spent a lot of time with me to make sure I was injury free.
“They were probably the reason why I didn’t chuck the game and why I didn’t quit. They showed me a lot of love and put their arm around me. It’s what made me carry on playing.
“I owe a lot to Bradford. I loved my time at Featherstone; the boys were great and it’s sad now to see what’s going on there. I know Bradford and Featherstone don’t like each other but I do hope they pull through in the future. The boys deserve it; we had a good bunch there and we were a tight group. But I’m ready for that step up now.
“To be honest with you, I never thought I’d get it again, but I just knuckled down and kept my head down, and that’s what I’ve done this pre-season. I just wanted to make sure I am ready to take that next step up to Super League again. “
Outlining his motives, Wynne added: “No matter what, I’ll give 100 per cent in every game I play, that’s the type of player I am, and the more confidence you get, the more hungry you are to then play in that next game.
“You want your teammates to trust you so you’ve got to give it your all every game and make sure that you’re in the best shape and the best position you can be in. I’ll be looking to do just that. I’m raring to go.”
