John Cartwright has warned his Hull FC players not to get too comfortable with their progress this year and insists they must now get ‘back to basics’ to address a blip in form.
Despite their disappointing Magic Weekend defeat, Hull still remain in fifth position in Super League. However, four teams now sit below them on ten points – St Helens, Catalans Dragons, Wakefield Trinity, and Warrington Wolves – with Hull just a solitary point ahead of ninth position.
Losing four of their last five games in both Super League and the Challenge Cup, Hull have fallen below standards set earlier this year, with the challenge now to get back to them and ensure the season doesn’t fizzle out.
And while Hull have come a long way from the side that slumped to a woeful 11th placed finish last year, Cartwright has told his players to rid themselves of such thoughts ahead of their next game at Leeds Rhinos later this month.
“I think we’re probably getting told that a little bit too much, to be honest with you,” the Hull coach said after Saturday’s defeat. “I have never doubted our ability to win games and to beat teams that we probably struggled against last year, but sometimes if we keep getting told things, it starts to sink in too much.
“For us, it’s getting back to basics. There’s no magic wand and there’s no secret, but I have total faith in them. I really do. I’ve watched them grow as a team.
“Playing 13 on 12 in this game is unbelievably tough. They battled away, but the problem was the way that we got there. It was ill-disciplined, and we were not doing things that we have trained for. That’s the disappointing thing.”
Hull now have a week off before the trip to Headingley on May 16, but they will still be in training this week, with Cartwright focused on addressing the areas where they have fallen away.
For the head coach, the number one issue is discipline – an area that stems from giving away penalties and losing their cool, but also from dropped balls, not getting to points, not getting to their kicks and ending sets in good field position with pressure put on the opposition.
“They don’t need a break – and they shouldn’t need a break,” Cartwright added. “We’ve got a weekend off next week, but we’ll train through the week. We’ve got to address some discipline areas and rid the little issues that are sneaking in.”