Gentle at home with Hull

Gentle has succeeded Richard Agar at the KC Stadium after opting to leave his post as Tim Sheens' assistant at Wests Tigers to become a head coach for the first time.

"We've come with an open mind. We've sold up at home, I've got a three-year contract and we'll see where it leads. Three might turn into five, five might turn into 10, who knows."
Peter Gentle Quotes of the week

The Australian, who turned down the chance to take over at Salford last season, has demonstrated his long-term commitment to the Airlie Birds by selling his house back in Sydney.

He has signed a three-year deal at Hull but is not ruling out staying beyond his initial contract.

"It's something I've looked at for quite a while," Gentle said. "I did six years under Tim Sheens (at Wests Tigers) and he was encouraging me to get a job.

"He insisted I was ready and he virtually kicked me out in the end!

"It's something I've always wanted to do, coach in Super League, and I'm not using it as a stepping stone to get back into the NRL or anything like that.

"We've come with an open mind. We've sold up at home, I've got a three-year contract and we'll see where it leads. Three might turn into five, five might turn into 10, who knows?"

Gentle will take charge of the side for the first time when they take on city rivals Hull KR in a pre-season friendly on Sunday at the KC Stadium.

Counting down

"We're at a stage now when we need to play some footie, against some strong opposition," he said. "We've done enough on the paddock, we're ready to play.

"It seems an eternity since we all came together and now we're counting down the hours to the kick-off."

He is, however, not expecting instant success, particularly as the Black and Whites have signed eight players during the winter months.

Andy Lynch arrived from Bradford for a six-figure fee and has been named as the club's new captain, while Wade McKinnon, Aaron Heremaia and Brett Seymour have all followed Gentle over from Australia.

"We'll set down after the two trials and do a bit of goal-setting," Gentle said.

"It's probably more about realising our potential and playing to our best each week, getting that level of consistency. We've got to narrow that gap between our best game and our worst game.

"If we can do that and keep improving each week, we'd like to think we'd be there or thereabouts at the end of the year.

"We'll be better the second week, we'll be better the third week and the fourth week and in 10 weeks' time we'll be even better. It's just how quick we can get those combinations working."