Andy Last has challenged his Hull FC half-backs to step up and lead the team to victory.
Hull FC half-back Aidan Sezer.
Andy Last has stated that the penny must drop with his Hull FC side and has laid out the challenge to under-fire half-backs Jake Arthur and Aidan Sezer.
Hull have struggled for attacking rhythm and fluency in their last two games, with disappointing defeats coming to both Toulouse Olympique and Bradford Bulls.
Looking out of sync, the side have struggled to get into their groove, with Last challenging his side to stick to the plan and embrace uglier elements of rugby league to get what would be a surprise victory away at Leigh Leopards this Friday night.
Speaking to Hull Live, Last, without 15 players for the Super League clash, said: “Our attack has been really frustrating, especially under pressure and under stress. We just go away from our plan and it’s something we’re trying to iron out.
“What we’ve got to be is a little bit more disciplined in sticking to a plan. The plan is not complex because we haven’t been a team that has scored loads and loads of points. We had the anomaly, which was the score against Cas, where we ended up putting 50 on them, but over the course of the last 18 months, we’ve not really been a team that gets away from our opponents and puts 30-40 on them.
“We’ve got to embrace, unfortunately, a little bit of the ugly football and just be happy getting across the line. I also feel there are some players who just haven’t quite been where they need to be. Our spine players need to be better and I think we need a little bit more out of our nines.
“When we’ve posted points, the two 9s were really, really good in that game. I think we’ve missed opportunities to go out and run a little bit more from nine, so that’s something I’m trying to encourage to Custy (Cade Cust) and Will Hutchinson.
“We can highlight issues and tell the players, but what they’ve got to do is take that information on and go and attack it when the game comes. That’s the challenge.”
Set to run with Arthur and Sezer once again, Last has laid out the realities of injury-hit Hull’s recent struggles. But the Hull-born coach isn’t making excuses and is instead looking for a firm improvement on Friday night.
“We haven’t had a great deal of continuity and consistency in the spine,” Last said. “We’ve constantly been chopping and changing. That’s been difficult.
“Jake is a young half coming into a high-pressure environment, which is obviously playing for Hull FC. Aidan also played outstandingly well for us last year but he probably hasn’t quite hit the same sort of form as what he was in last year.
“That’s been a difficult problem for us as a coaching staff, trying to get the dynamics of what we need in those key positions, but the continuity and consistency in selection of them being on the same page – it’s quite clearly not quite there at the moment.
“We’re spending a fair bit of time on the training field and looking at video and trying to work out ways to get more opportunities in attack from our team.
“I also think the pressure of the situation plays a part. I think that sometimes it can tighten you up and you need to play a little bit free. When you play your best rugby, or when you play any sport, you hear the word ‘flow’ and you get in that zone. And I just don’t feel we’ve ever been in a period where everybody is in the flow and in that zone.
“What I want us to do is just free up a little bit and feel as though you can find a pass and play with a little bit more creativity and express yourself because we are defending well.
“There are some things that we’re trying to encourage, but the mark of the really good ones is that they are able to do it under pressure. Unfortunately, we just haven’t been great under pressure, certainly in the last two games. That’s the test now: to do it under pressure.”
Also focusing on what Hull have done well, Last is buoyed by recent defensive improvements, with Hull sticking in the contest and showing some grit and resilience – traits they will need in abundance at Leigh.
“We did a review on Monday after the game and we spoke about the ability to absorb pressure,” he said. “We’re doing too much of it on our own try line and that’s down to errors coming out of yardage and poor last-play options, but it is a strength of ours. We’re comfortable defending our try line.
“We’ll need to be comfortable again at the weekend because Leigh do offer some really good attacking shapes and they’ve got some real strike. We need to be all on the same page and connected and continue the good work we’ve been showing from a defensive point of view.
“I’d also like us to improve our yardage defence. When we actually do turn the ball over in good areas. I do feel we’re letting teams out a little bit too easily, and that’s been a constant work in progress for us this year. We concede run metres a little bit too easily for my liking.
“We’ve got to be better in that contact, initially, and make our wrestles a little bit better; be more regressive from the marker, and a big one is line speed. The best teams have the best line speed, and they suffocate you for field position. That’s something that we’ve been stressing and we’ve been working on. We need the penny to drop there.”