By Phil Harlow BBC Sport at Wembley

Radford has had to lead his club in difficult circumstances

Hull FC captain Lee Radford says his side will be a more formidable force next season after a turbulent 2008.

A mid-season coaching change and a long injury list saw Hull struggle in Super League, but Radford is optimistic after reaching the Challenge Cup final.

"If we can get some stability, we can really kick on," he told BBC Sport.

"Richard Agar has been fantastic since he took over as coach. He's got us to a cup final after a few months, so who knows what more we can achieve?"

Despite their lowly position in the league table this season, Hull's appearance at Wembley was actually their third appearance in a major final in four seasons, following on from the 2005 Cup final in Cardiff and the 2006 Grand Final.

And Radford said there was sufficient talent in the playing ranks for Hull to show their true selves next season.

"The key to it for us is getting our half-backs fit - and keeping them fit," he added.

606: DEBATE I think the lads gave it their all and I'm very proud to be called a Hull FC fan fclad07

Scrum-half Richard Horne recovered from a career-threatening neck injury to return on the bench at Wembley, even though he had lost more than 20lbs during his recuperation period.

"If we can get Richard Horne back to his playing weight and raring to go for the start of next season, and we'll have (former Hull KR star) James Webster on board and he'll be massive for us," said Radford.

"He's a great organiser and that's what we've lacked this year."

Hull went into the Challenge Cup final as huge underdogs, but they produced a brave performance to lead 12-10 in the second half before St Helens pulled away in the final quarter.

"I am proud of our effort - we really had a go," said Radford.

"They're on a 21-game winning streak and nobody gave us a chance going into it.

"But amongst ourselves we were pretty confident that we could upset them and we had a good go at it. Some of our scrambling defence - which it always is going to be against Saints - was a special effort.

"When we went 12-10 up I did think we could kick on. We'd defended really well and then come away to score two breakaway tries but it wasn't to be. St Helens are a phenomenal side."