It’s an area Hull FC are still trying to master in 2026.
Hull FC loose-forward John Asiata.(Image: SW PIX)
Hull FC head coach John Cartwright has reaffirmed his support for Super League’s new ruck speeds but has questioned the timing of the confirmations ahead of the 2026 season.
The Black and Whites boss has stated that the new ruck interpretations, which have seen ruck infringements more harshly penalised this year in a bid to speed up the game, were only finalised towards the end of pre-season.
And while they are well received across the competition, it’s the lack of preparation to adapt that seems to be the biggest issue.
“The timing of it was the thing that gets you as a coach,” Cartwright, speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s game against Catalans Dragons, said. “It all came in at the end of the pre-season, and it’s a massive rule change.
“You’d like to get the opportunity to train for a role that we didn’t have the chance to train for, but we’re sitting here now and waiting to see how it pans out. Whether it’s going to be as fast as it is at the moment or not; time will tell on that, but it certainly would have shaped our off-season if we knew we were going to be defending ten tackles in a row instead of six.”
Hull have been slow starters this season and have struggled to get to grips with the pace of the game, playing games on the backfoot both in attack and defence. However, they broke that cycle against Leeds last week with a welcome win, with Cartwright’s side completing high and finding some rhythm to their performance.
“It’s just awareness,” he said on his side, trying to master the new speeds. “It’s too late to change anything now. All the hard work is done in the pre-season; in-season is maintenance, and if you do get a chance to get a couple of hard sessions, you take it, but you don’t get too many of those opportunities, unfortunately.
“I think it’s good for the game, I really do, if we can find some consistency in it, but the timing of it is the only thing I would question. But again, I do think it’s a good thing, especially compared to last year, where it was really slow. We just have to deal with it. They tell us what it is and we have to adapt to it.”
The inconsistencies have been a concern to start Super League this season, in particular the set restarts, with Cartwright admitting to Hull Live after victory over Leeds that it’s the lack of understanding of ‘how and why’ they are given that is the most frustrating thing.
Commenting on last week once again, the coach, who sent John Asiata to speak to the officials at half-time, said: “It frustrated me last week because of the amount we were given against; it was a frustrating period of the game, but it evened out a little bit towards the end of the game.
“You’ve just got to try to keep on trying to adapt, look at the areas where you went wrong, and try to fix it up the following week. It’s just a massive change and that’s why I think people are struggling with it.
“We’re all going to disagree at times – these decisions from the referees have to be made in the blink of an eye. So we’re always going to have little disagreements.”
Cartwright has also stated that Hull may have cracked down on one or two reasons why they’re giving away so many six agains.
He added: “We’ve narrowed it down to a couple of areas where if we are 100% clinical, we feel like it will take away a lot of the ones we’ve been getting. Hopefully, that will be the case this weekend.”