The Hull FC duo have been backed to rise again.
Hull FC winger Harvey Barron.
Andy Last is backing Hull FC wingers Harvey Barron and Lewis Martin to hit top form once again.
The two wingers excelled in the Black and Whites side last season with a sequence of strong displays. They scored 46 tries between them, but it was their strengths in their backfield that earned them their biggest praises.
Naturally, that rise has seen them both targeted this season, with opposition focus going up a level. Both players have also suffered injuries this term, which hasn’t helped, but Last is adamant both players will rise again – and has explained what they’re focusing on to do just that.
“It’s a challenge for all young players,” Last said. “You burst onto the scene and then the following year, the report is normally second-year syndrome because teams preview you a little bit more, spend a little bit more time looking at you on video, and then try to work out what your weaknesses are and where they think your strengths are.
“Players obviously then look to try and combat that, trying to expose your weaknesses and then trying to nullify your strengths. It’s all a learning and that’s something which all players go through, but the good players go through it.
“They just have to keep adapting, keep working at their game, and find ways to influence matches in a positive way. That’s the challenge for Lewis and Harvey. Even Tom Briscoe, at the age of 35, is still finding ways to try and influence a game in a positive sense.
“The back three, or even back five, feature heavily in yardage carries, etc., and they feature in opposition previews. Some teams are more effective at preventing teams and individuals than others, but those guys have had a solid period playing regular first-grade rugby league and they’re just coming into another little period where they’ve got to find ways to be effective again.”
Outlining what they need to focus on, Last continued: “They’ve just got to be a little bit better in finding space, using a little bit of footwork, changing the body position into contact and just learning from those moments because teams are aiming up on our backfield because they were so strong for us last year.
“And for their development they’ve got to find ways around that and combat teams’ physicality to do a job on them and stop them getting any quick play of balls.
“They are working hard on that. They look at video and at opposition players, and as an outside back, you’ve got to work on all aspects of your game, like game sense, game awareness, tackle count – all those little bits come into your daily practice and your game day focuses as wingers.
“They are all learnings which they are working on on a daily basis, but again, they have had a rapid rise to success and what we’ve got to do is get round them. We want to build them up and protect them and make sure that they’re ready to nail those moments if and when they come again. They will be better moving forward. I’ve got no doubt about that.”