Andy Last explains Hull FC pressure relievers and the tweaks to make his side tick

Andy Last on Hull FC pressure, his previous blueprint, and his tweaks to make the side better.

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There’s pressure in sport and then there’s Hull FC pressure.

Andy Last knows that pressure all too well. He’s experienced it before, written off in 2020 before defying the odds to reach the Super League play-off semi-finals.

Now he’s out to do it again and get the Black and Whites into a position they haven’t been in since his last spell in interim charge six years ago. He got the perfect start, too, hammering Castleford Tigers 50-10 last Friday night, but now the challenge is to go again.

Last stressed that challenge to his players before they left West Yorkshire and it’s been the message that has stuck with them ever since. Now the favoured side going into Sunday’s game against Toulouse Olympique, there’s a different pressure and expectation to win.

It’s a pressure that Hull must handle if they want to get their season flowing with some momentum and that winning habit and, ultimately, achieve a top-six finish. It’s also a pressure Last, who cuts a relaxed stance, knows how to handle.

“I’m a family man,” Last said. “I’m not a man that goes around town; I never have been. I bunker down at home; I probably won’t venture out to the shops as much if we get a loss, but that’s probably been one of my strengths.

“My wife laughs about it. She tells me I give so much time to it and I say, ‘Well, I’m a supporter at the end of the day,’ but I’m excited about this challenge and I’m looking forward to it because I know if we get on a roll, how strong this club and this support base can be.

“If we can do that, it’s exciting to be part of, but yeah, I won’t be out drinking. I’ll probably be eating lots of Maltesers. That’s my go-to: chocolate.

“I’ll also have a chat with my family and tell them to stay away from social media because I’m sure, if we have a loss, there will be people bad-mouthing and bagging me, and then when you get the win, you get the pats on the back.

“It all comes with the territory, so to speak – there will be pats on the back and punches in the face. That’s just the way it is. I like to hope I will get more support because I am a local boy and people know how passionate I am about this club, but we’ll see.

“The proof is always in the pudding, and everyone supports a winning team, don’t they? The more we win, the better it is for everybody. We’re striving for wins on a weekly basis.”

Amid the pressure, there is also a growing confidence for Last, who turned the screw six years ago and made the impossible possible. He believes he can get a tune out of the team and get into the top six, and if Friday was anything to go by, then the players are joining him for the ride.

“I’m really happy to lead my hometown club,” Last said. “I’m excited as well about the opportunity. I know there’s a good group of players in there and if we can just get our best players on the field, I think we are capable of making the play-offs – and once you get in there, anything can happen.

“2020 is a great blueprint for that. We were written off. There was no chance of us making it, but we made it. We went to Warrington and we beat Warrington comfortably and then we got a poor referring decision, I felt, going against us at Wigan – with the head rub by Josh Griffin on Olly Partington.

“He did it all season; he was the head-rub king. Then the game flipped and they ended up going to the Grand Final at the KC (MKM Stadium), and that’s when Jack Welsby scored the last-second try. It was a good memory, overall. It was just disappointing that it wasn’t deemed enough back then for me to get the job.”

Looking for a welcome history repeat, Last, contracted until the end of 2027 and set to be one of incoming head coach Steve McNamara’s assistants next season, has made a couple of tweaks to ensure he prepares the side the best he can.

Explaining those tweaks, Last said: “We want Jake Arthur to be the lead half and play more of that seven role, and Aidan Sezer being more of a six and being that running threat. That allows Jake to show his strengths, which are his temperament, his game control, and his kicking game.

“There’s also been some general little bits and bobs, nothing major; it doesn’t need a major shape-up, but just tweaking a couple of things here and there. There will be no massive changes to playing style.

“We’ve recruited a certain type of player. We’ve got a big forward pack and we need to use them a little bit more. We also want to encourage Amir (Bourouh) and Custy (Cade Cust) to play on the front foot a little bit more and run the ball a bit more. They are the big areas.

“I think, over the last 18 months, we’ve been very gritty and very resilient. We’ve got a real dogginess about us. That’s when we’re at our best: when our backs are to the wall, and that’s when we’ve seen our best performances.

“The thing we need to improve on is our polish and get better execution when we get our opportunities in those good ball situations. We want to find a bit more quality and pick that pass at the right time – that’s something we’ve stressed. If we do that, we’ll be in good stead.”