Hull FC winger Harvey Barron has slammed the captain’s challenge call that went against him during Saturday’s 13-6 defeat to St Helens. In fact, the 22-year-old has called for more consistency with decisions, particularly with what he and teammate Lewis Martin believe are a growing number of ‘flops’ within the game.
Airing his frustrations, Barron is adamant the wrong decision was made, with St Helens appealing a penalty after they were judged to have dragged the Hull flyer into touch. The video referee then overturned the live decision, despite Barron insisting the ‘held’ call was given at the time. The player then surrendered himself in order to play the ball but, in doing so, was then manhandled again and bundled over the sideline.
Speaking to Hull Live, Barron gave a firm take on his version of events. “It’s frustrating,” he said. “The inconsistency is definitely a big thing. You watch some games during the week, and you wonder how that was a penalty, and you then wonder how that wasn’t a penalty; the one on me at the weekend (Saints’ captain’s challenge). I was gobsmacked that was given after I got put in touch. I couldn’t believe it.
“We need to be more consistent with it across the full league. We heard both ‘held’ and ‘zero’ as well. I could feel the defenders on me, and I knew I had been tackled. I then spun around to go and play the ball, and I got bundled into touch. If I got up and carried on running, he (the referee) would have said, ‘Go back and play it.’ I don’t know what they are looking at.”
And as for the flops, Barron has called for more consistency on what he believes are imbalances between six agains, holding down, and plain and straight flops. He continued: “Me and Lewis speak about it quite a lot. We feel like every time we carry the ball, they’re just shouting ‘surrender’ straight away. That means we just stop, and that allows them to pile the men on. You start to move, and then more men are piling on, so you can’t get up and play the ball.
“It’s one of them, the flop rule; it came in at the start of the year, and they made a big thing about it, and now they’ve completely gone away from it. You watch games back, and there are people falling on top of each other after they’ve not even been involved in the tackle.”
However, Barron, who has played 15 of Hull’s 20 games this year, missing just five due to injury and with nine tries to his name, is also focusing on his own improvements. The winger has cemented his place in the Black and Whites’ side, but he knows he has a way to go to be the complete player he desires.
“There’s been a few errors in my game that are clear to see,” Barron explained. “They are little yardage errors that are affecting the team, and I’m working hard to try and get them out of my game.
“It’s just a confidence thing, getting that ball and, like Carty keeps saying, taking it under your wing and carrying it hard. But I think I’m a lot more confident in my performances this year. I feel like I’m a lot more settled in the environment now compared to other years. Last year was massive; as a team we struggled, but individually it was nice to get the run of games in Super League, which I haven’t had before, and then a big pre-season with Carty coming in and the players we brought in – it all really helped me develop.”
Among his honest admissions, Barron is content with his defence this year, with the winger reading plays well and coming up with strong tackles – and thanks in part to the work done on the training field with assistant coach Andy Last.
“I think defensively I’ve come on a bit, especially over the last month or so,” he explained. “There were a few parts I felt like I was a bit off at, but Lasty has shown me some stuff. I thought I was doing it right, but Lasty has shown me how to do it properly. That’s something over the past month that has been a lot more beneficial to me.
“It’s all reads. I was getting up high, but they came back, and I let them have too many metres. We’ve cut that out, and now I just get high and stay high and then make the tackle when it’s there.”
And as for life with Martin on Hull’s wings, with his teammate ever-present this year and currently on 19 tries, Barron added: “We’re both enjoying playing at the minute. He’s getting a lot of the tries, but it’s fine – we’re trying to help him get the club record (Super League era, 25), but he’s playing well, and hopefully we can keep kicking on.
“It’s good. It’s a dream come true to be playing week in, week out. I just hope I can keep on developing and keep on playing well.”