Hull FC were dominated at Wigan – and couldn’t get out of a vicious cycle.
Hull FC prop Harvie Hill tackles Wigan’s Luke Thompson.
Hull FC were dominated by Wigan Warriors on Saturday night, with the Cherry and Whites running out 34-6 winners at the Brick Community Stadium. Here, Hull Live looks at some talking points.
The perfect storm
First things first, Wigan were relentless. That’s the best they’ve played – at least in the account of their local media – in several months, with the Warriors completely dominant throughout. They put their foot on Hull’s throat and didn’t let go for pretty much the full eighty minutes. They were completely and utterly ruthless, getting a foothold and never letting it slip, dominating field position, territory, and ultimately the scoreboard.
Taking advantage of some sloppy Hull errors early on, Wigan crashed into FC’s defensive line and got their breakthrough via a kick play. They then got on the front foot, with Hull unable to cope with the speed at which they played the game, getting into a vicious cycle in terms of where they received the ball and where they turned it over. On that front, Wigan dominated the game and Hull were left hanging on for large parts. All they did was defend on the back foot, missing numbers tackles, and when they survived, they were hard pressed to find yardage.
Hull managed to stem the flow in the second half that won’t win any awards for quality, but in terms of territory it was still all Wigan, with the away side – restricted to moments few and too far between – only managing one late consolation try to Wigan’s six. They were just beaten to the punch over and over again and couldn’t get a foothold after a poor start. A really tough night.
Discipline
Hull lost Ligi Sao last week to a two-game ban for a dangerous contact and now could end up losing Liam Knight after a tackle John Cartwright called a ‘ten on the dumb scale’. Knight let go of a Wigan player in the tackle after lifting him – an offence that saw the prop sin-binned at the time. The game at that point had gone, but the lack of discipline from Knight must not become a habit. It was poor and rightly called out by Hull’s head coach.
Elsewhere, Hull gave away numerous penalties and six agains for ruck infringements, while they were ‘monstered’ by Wigan when they had the ball. There was a worrying difference between the speed of the two rucks and it’s certainly something for Hull to tighten up. They’ve looked loose in both games so far. Desperation got them home against Bradford. But they were well beaten here.
Reality
Hull can’t afford to have six big guns unavailable against the best teams in Super League and expect to come away with victories. That’s not excuse-making – it’s reality. And the returns of the likes of John Asiata, James Bell, Zak Hardaker, Jake Arthur, etc., can’t come soon enough.
Some of those returns will come next week, Hardaker for one, with more hoped for, but it’s a reality that Hull need their big guns back soon rather than later. They have a thicker squad this year but take half a dozen away from any side’s first 17 and the cracks will start to appear.
Hull need a good run now on that front, but as to when they’ll get it, the wait presumably goes on. Joe Batchelor came off with calf and shoulder issues, while Will Pryce was taken off with a knee injury in the final minutes of the game. Both players will need scans to determine the severity of their knocks but the last thing Hull need right now is another serious injury. Fingers crossed for the best-case scenarios.
Early days
Just like at this stage last year, Hull’s season was never going to be defined by a game against Wigan in round two, and if they respond against York on Friday, then two from three ain’t bad. But it’s not going to be easy, and Hull again need to tighten up the ruck as soon as possible. They need to get back some control – getting assertive in the tackle with strong contact and with numbers, which will in turn help them when they have the ball. They need to play on the front foot more, allowing their halves more time to kick the ball and gain an advantage in field position. Simply put, Hull lost the middle against Wigan. They can’t afford to lose it again. They’ve got to tighten up. And quickly.