Hull FC produced a sloppy and error-strewn performance in defeat at Warrington Wolves on Saturday evening, with the lack of ability to hold onto the ball their undoing in a 24-10 loss. Here, Hull Live looks at some talking points.
Don’t complete, don’t win games
That’s one of the basic methodologies of rugby league, but it’s a stone-cold fact, with an erratic showing, akin to the Castleford game earlier this month, ruining any chance Hull had of building into the contest and getting a result. Despite the completion drum continuously being banged for the last several weeks, Hull completed at around 50% – a poor return – with Warrington starting as the faster and stronger side and leaving Hull chasing the game.
John Cartwright’s side did just that late in the first half, playing for a ten minute block and getting themselves back to within two points at half-time, but that hard work was undone in the second half as Warrington pulled away again. They didn’t have to do much out of the ordinary to do so either. Sam Powell’s try from dummy half was soft, as was Josh Thewlis’ opener, for that matter, with Hull suffering lapses in their defensive line and ability to stay switched on.
The was all the more frustrating given the effort and fight were clearly there for the large majority of the game. Warrington had both the possession and the chances to double their points total, but Hull stood firm. At one point, they repelled around 30 tackles on their own line. That’s absurd.
It shows that the resilience is there, and in terms of effort, there’s no criticising this Hull team. But effort alone doesn’t win games, and for the second time inside three games, it was their ability, or lack of it, to hold onto the ball that cost them.
In fact, Hull struggled to build any rhythm until Aidan Sezer began to grab the game by the scruff of its neck. Unfortunately, that block of around ten minutes fizzled out after half time, and Hull were never in it after Rodrick Tai got to a Zak Hardaker pass and prevented Hull’s right edge from completing a free-flowing move and potentially taking the lead.
That would have completed a mad turnaround at the time, but instead, George Williams burst through the Hull line minutes later and got Warrington into position again. Powell burrowed over, and once Matt Dufty carved Hull open, that was that. From there on in, Hull, who looked clunky and disconnected, did nothing but defend, and they couldn’t get back into it.
Injury and squad reality
Another frustrating defeat for Hull is perhaps a reality check and certainly a warning sign of what will happen this season should this side fail to get their act together and produce better accounts with the ball. Hull still holds sixth position in Super League, but unless they’re on point in home games against St Helens and Wakefield, then they will fall to a more precarious position ahead of the final third of the season.
Of course, there is an ongoing injury reality to consider, with some key players out, and none more so than John Asiata and Will Pryce. And if the impact from Asiata on this team wasn’t already apparent, it is now, with everything going through the loose forward, who has been instrumental this year. Pryce too provides a genuine running threat at the back that Hull just don’t have right now.
Add to that Jed Cartwright and Jordan Lane being absent through injury, which is continuing to hurt Hull, who are having to adapt on the run with a squad still very much in the early phases of its rebuild. Therefore, they need their back rowers back as soon as possible, alongside their key weapons. Get that, and they have the scope to get a few more results, but without them, it’s going to be a challenge.
Make changes now
Despite the realities Hull face, there are options to change things right now. While Cartwright and Lane are hoped to be back in the near future, Asiata, into his sixth week of rehab, will be re-scanned this week, with Pryce understood to be not too far behind. Hopefully, Hull will get some good news on both, but in the meantime, there are options for Cartwright to mix things up on an immediate basis.
At full-back, there’s no denying Jordan Rapana is struggling, albeit he’s not the only one. Logan Moy remains an option, with Rapana perhaps better suited to the outside backs where he’s not as exposed.
In the spine, there’s the option of using Cade Cust in the hooking role alongside Amir Bourouh, but evening up their spells to more of an even keel, and in turn, freeing Jack Charles up to take a longer spell in the halves alongside Sezer. And at centre, there’s an option to get Zak Hardaker back in his favoured position now, with Brad Fash potentially doing a job in the back row.
No doubt, there’ll be options discussed by the Hull coaching staff ahead of Saturday’s game against St Helens, and there’s no doubt that some of those suggestions are complete utter nonsense, but while not all the answers are there, the need to mix things up and roll the dice a bit is apparent.
The last thing Hull want after a positive first half of the season is for this year to fizzle out. The top six is achievable and certainly with key players all back and firing, but in the meantime a different outlook may bring a freshening up of the side – and ahead of two huge games with a lot at stake, that could just be the spark they need.