Tom Briscoe has aired his own message to Hull FC’s supporters.
Hull FC outside back Tom Briscoe.
Tom Briscoe has insisted that Hull FC’s players will do their best to put a turbulent week behind them with a solid performance against St Helens on Thursday night.
The Black and Whites go up against the Saints at the MKM Stadium in what will be their first game since the news was confirmed that head coach John Cartwright will leave the club at the end of the season.
And regardless of how tough the last week has been, Briscoe is adamant that Hull’s squad will now roll the sleeves up ahead of their next Super League clash, with 20 rounds of the season and 40 competition points to play for.
“It’s a challenging time for the club and the team, but as players, you’ve just got to get on with it,” Briscoe said. “We’re not sure what happens or what the future holds for the immediate and for the rest of the season at the minute, but we’ve got a job to do come Thursday and for the rest of the season.
“We’ve still got a long time to go – we’re still only early on in the season. We know it’s all about performances and we’ve got a big game this week against St Helens to get our minds focused.
“Obviously, it’s all come as a shock, but it happens in sport. It’s a very volatile environment and things are forever changing; that goes for players as well as coaches and staff. You’ve just got to take that in your stride and put it to the side now. That will be dealt with separately by us as a playing group.
“John has tried to keep everything away from us as much as he can to protect the team and what we’re trying to build here. We’ve come to training and we’ve tried to do what we need to do to prepare for a game against St Helens.”
Arriving at Hull once again in April 2024 after the sacking of Tony Smith, you’d forgive Briscoe if he felt there was a bit of Deja-vu around it all, but that’s not the case, and the veteran outside back is confident a repeat of the torrid season seen two years ago won’t occur.
“I feel like it’s a completely different story, a different feeling about the place, on the back of last year, and that the group is really strong,” Briscoe said. “I came in at a time when there was a lot of uncertainly. John was waiting to come in and players were getting let go and players were coming in.
“We got up to squad number 55, and at that point, it got a bit crazy, but I feel like we’ve got a stronger group now. I didn’t start that year here, but the feeling I got coming in at that point when I did, the feeling now about the place, is a lot better.
“We’ve just got to be professional about it as players. The decisions have been made, and they have nothing to do with us as players. We’ve got a job to do now week in, week out, and I feel like I can say for every man in that squad who will pull on the shirt, we’ll give our all, no matter what is going on in the background.”
Outlining Thursday’s challenge, Briscoe continued: “We’ll come out and give it our all like we always will. It might be a bit of a strange atmosphere with everything that has been going on, but that’s nothing to do with us as a playing group.
“We just get on with it like business as usual and do what we need to do to try and put in a good performance and try to get the two points.”
“Just stick by us. All of the stuff off the field is not part and parcel of what we’re going to be dealing with. Get behind us for the rest of the year. It’s still early and there’s a long way to go.”