Hull FC are ready for the business end of the season.
John Cartwright has encouraged his Hull FC players to continue their play-off charge ahead of the ‘most exciting part of the year.’ The Black and Whites face Leigh Leopards on Saturday evening, with ‘more meaning’ now on each Super League fixture with just six rounds of the regular season to go.
Heading into round 22, Hull sit just one point ahead of Wakefield Trinity, who head to Salford Red Devils on Sunday. For now, they control their own destiny, but they know they have to keep getting the wins on the board to achieve their season goal.
But for Cartwright, that brings with it excitement, with the Hull boss insisting his side, who have battled every week, win, lose, or draw, won’t ‘run away’ from what lies ahead.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Cartwright said: “This is the most exciting part of the year, semi-final time, and the lead-up to semi-final time. We’re nowhere near there yet; there are six really tough games to go, but it’s exciting for us. We’re not running away from it – we’re going straight for it.
“Both sides have got a lot to play for. Every game is important to us and they (Leigh) are fighting for a top two spot. We’re getting down to the pointy end of the season where pretty much every game we play is going to have a lot of meaning to it.
“But I can promise everyone – and I’ve been watching footy for a long time – that these boys will try their hardest. I never see a lack of effort from these players. Sometimes they don’t play well but they fight to the death every week and I’m really happy to be involved in a club that does that.
“I thought the way that they handled the Salford situation was as good as I’ve ever seen from a team. They showed the utmost respect for the opposition, the players, and the fans – it was unprompted, and that’s the type of team that I want to be involved with.”
Ready for their third meeting with Leigh this year, Hull know their previous draw in March and victory in May count for little now. It’s all about what they do on Saturday, with the side approaching the contest with a clean slate against what they expect will be a fired-up opponent.
“They’ll be smarting from losing at home to us – every player has those in their memory bank and I’m sure they will come out to ambush us on our home ground,” Cartwright continued. “They’re a very good team and they’re aggressive with big outside backs and really creative halves.
“We’ve got to start well and match them, and that’s the tough bit: trying to match a very good side. They are more dangerous coming off a loss. When you’re playing against the best in the comp, they hurt from their losses and that’s why they don’t often lose two in a row.
“This is a really critical part of the year where every game is going to have consequences. It is going to be really intense. It’s not a semi-final but it’s got semi-final implications for both teams. It will have all the intensity of an end-of-season game. It’s just a bit earlier than normal.”
And on May’s win at Leigh, Cartwright added: “It was a good performance. Everything went to hand. They made some errors that they don’t normally make. It would be lovely if that could happen every week but unfortunately it doesn’t.
“That game now won’t mean a lot – we’ve got to start again. If we can mimic things we need in that game and force some errors with some pressure, then that gives us a chance.
“But every game is different and we can’t take much out of those two games. There are different players out on the field and we’ve had a lot of football to find what works best for us. It’ll come down to who is the best side on the day.”