Hull go up against Wire, Slammin’ Sam, and incoming coach Steve McNamara for the first time this year.
Steve McNamara will be Hull FC’s head coach for 2027 and beyond.(Image: SW PIX)
Andy Last has challenged his Hull FC side to make the pundits ‘eat their words’ at Warrington Wolves on Friday night.
The Black and Whites take on the Wire at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, looking to end a run of three successive defeats, with many pundits expecting nothing less than a comfortable Warrington win.
And according to Last, that reality should fuel the fire for his side, who take on the Wolves for the first team this season, going up against Sam Burgess and, of course, incoming 2027 head coach Steve McNamara.
“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Last, set for his fifth game in interim charge, said. “Everyone thinks we’re going to get hammered, so it’ll be great for the boys to actually go out there and put in a strong performance and make everyone eat their words.”
And on the McNamara angle, Last continued: “It’s a unique situation for both clubs, but Steve is not the head coach. I’m more worried about Sam.
“I won’t speak too much about Steve and the job that he’s going to do here, out of respect to Warrington, but I’m sure Steve will be doing his work along with Sam to try and pick out the deficiencies in our performances and we’re certainly trying to do the same to them.”
Looking for a more attack-focused performance, Hull, sat in ninth position, will also count on their spirit at Warrington, which was there at Leigh, but they know they need a bit more quality around it.
“It’s the old cliché of taking it game by game,” Last said. “I think that’s what we’ve got to do. We can’t look too far ahead. We can’t get too despondent and disappointed with poor performances and losses.
“We just have to make sure that we’re striving hard to be the best version of ourselves on a weekly basis. If we do that, you give yourself a chance of winning some games and we certainly need to start winning some games if we’re serious about making the six.
“There was a lot of spirit from us (at Leigh) and I love the fact that we celebrated the wins and we tried to attack the game in a real positive mindset.
“There’s still a belief in the group and we feel as though we’ve got a plan, which, if we execute for the 80 minutes, we can cause Warrington some problems. It’s going to be a real challenge, but it’s one we’re looking forward to.”