Hodgson was hospitalised for two weeks earlier this year due to infection

Bailey Hodgson has made an impressive start to life as a Hull FC player after joining in from day one of pre-season, says Steve McNamara.

Hodgson missed the second half of the 2026 Super League season for Leigh Leopards after being ruled out long term due an infected cut on his elbow. The full-back needed two surgeries to clear the infection and that left him hospitalised for around two weeks.

Head coach Adrian Lam suggested the issue could even be career threatening as a worst case scenario during a press conference, but the operations went well and he was able to spend the final months of Leigh's season working towards a return to action.

That has put him in the perfect position to hit the ground running with Hull, his hometown club, over pre-season training.

McNamara believes he has done exactly that too, with the 24-year-old making a positive impression on the head coach so far.

"He's in full training, he's absolutely fine," the head coach told Hull Live. "I think there was a bit of a scare there.

"I think a couple of things got said in the press there what were not going to be true, but he's absolutely been in full training.

"The elbow injury was difficult for him. It got an infection, then another infection. He had some old metal work in there, it gets into that and then it creates a bit of a problem.

"But what it has done is it stopped him playing, stopped him from being at risk of any injury at the end of the season, any other injury, and he's come back in really, really fresh.

"He's a very, very fit lad, a very committed lad, very professional in terms of how he conducts himself, and he's come in really well."

Of course, like McNamara, Hodgson is returning to the city several years after leaving to join up with Castleford Tigers as a youngster. His career has since taken him to Newcastle Knights and Leigh, but he'll be taking the next steps in his career with FC.

"He's said it's a little bit strange for him coming back to Hull. He feels like he's been away for a long time. I said, 'not as long as me. I've been away 30 years!'," the head coach laughed.

"But, he's fitted in really well with the group, and look, these guys are young guys and we will work hard, work smart, but we'll have fun as well.

"That's what young guys want, and we've created a really good environment over the first week, and we'll see where we go after that."