Hull FC head coach John Cartwright insists he didn’t influence or communicate with referee James Vella at half-time – despite some strong comments from Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell suggesting that he did.
The Black and Whites had a superb second-half comeback to thank for their victory on Thursday night, with Cartwright’s side scoring three unanswered tries to record a 16-10 victory and end their 355-day wait for a home victory.
However, they trailed 10-0 at half-time, with Powell suggesting that Cartwright’s comments, ones that were said to his players but in earshot of Vella, in the MKM Stadium tunnel influenced Vella’s officiating in the second half.
Wakefield had the better of the opening forty minutes with a favourable penalty count. However, it was Hull who had all the momentum after the break, with a hefty penalty swing in their favour.
Powell has suggested that the swing was a result of Cartwright’s comments. The Trinity boss said: “I didn’t like what happened at half-time in the tunnel. He (Cartwright) has influenced things there, saying what the penalty count was.
“John was saying some words in earshot. He wasn’t being aggressive. Listen, I’ve done it in the past. But it shouldn’t work. I think it has, and the game’s completely flipped on its head. I didn’t get it. But Hull deserved the win.”
However, Cartwright has insisted he didn’t say any words to referee Vella and instead spoke directly to his players about fighting at the ruck to earn penalties.
Asked about Powell’s comments, with Cartwright sitting at his post-match press conference after his opposition man, the Hull head coach said: “Did Daryl say that? He is one to talk, isn’t he? I commented on that (lack of penalties), but I didn’t influence the referee. I didn’t talk to the referee at all. I did not say a word at all.
“That’s a different story (if something was overheard?). But I didn’t talk to the referee. We didn’t get anything to go our way in the first half. We didn’t get a penalty or a six again.
“I was questioning our players about fighting in the ruck as they were walking in the tunnel. But you’ve all asked me about referees before, and I’ve just refrained from commenting on them. When we’ve lost, people have asked me about referees, and I’ve not commented, so I’ll leave it at that.”
As for the game, Wakefield took the lead through two Max Jowitt penalty goals before the full-back scored the game’s first try just before half-time.
However, Hull fought back hard in the second half, scoring through Zak Hardaker, Jordan Rapana, and Lewis Martin tries, with Cartwright putting the win down to the defensive work Hull did in the first half.
They had a lot of errors to rue early on, but they rolled their sleeves up, showing the defensive grit that has been synonymous with them all season.
“It was a funny old game,” Cartwright said. “It was certainly a game of two halves. I think the character that we showed in defence in the first half, even though we were down 10-0 (won us the game).
“It’s stating the obvious to say we weren’t playing well – but they kept defending their try line, and they were able to turn that little bit of position around.
“We had a bit of energy with the ball, and it created opportunities. It can be a simple game at times. We probably complicate it sometimes, but at the end of the day, the character we showed to be only 10-0 at half-time won us the game.”
Cartwright also paid tribute to Hardaker and Aidan Sezer’s leadership at half-time. He added: “You can’t keep talking about the same thing and expect different results. The players poke really well at half-time. Aidan and Zak addressed the group and said we had to keep playing football.
“We were only 10 points down, which is nothing in the modern game, but we weren’t going to do it by tucking the ball under our game and getting through sets. We had to be brave and play football, and the footy gods, in the end, smiled on us.”