Hull FC: Super 8s preview
Thursday 6 August 2015 17:01, UK
We take a look at the Super League season gone by for Hull FC, and preview their Super 8 hopes.
Story so far:
They pipped the Dragons to seventh spot, finishing two points above them, but Hull FC’s spot in the 8s has been touch-and-go all season. Only after a 22-12 derby win over Rovers could Lee Radford finally breathe a sigh of relief. Top eight was a minimum requirement for the former second rower, especially given the quality of recruitment at the KC Stadium.
But it seems it’s the same story every year; plenty of pre-season promise without ever quite delivering. The Black-and-Whites haven’t really threatened the sides competing at the top and the hierarchy will be wanting answers if things don’t go too well in the 8s.
What’s gone right:
There have been some excellent individual performances from the Hull players this season. Tom Lineham’s scored the second-most tries in the whole competition with 19 tries. Danny Houghton’s made 276 more tackles than anyone else, amassing 1023 in total. Marc Sneyd’s made the second-most attacking kicks in the league behind Danny Brough.
Liam Watts has made the third-most offloads, and Mark Minichiello and Fetuli Talanoa the fourth-most clean breaks. You get the picture. Basically, FC players are turning in some decent stats in all areas of the game. If they can harness those numbers into team performances, good things could happen.
What’s gone wrong:
Sheer inconsistency. The Airlie Birds just can’t seem to string a run of results together to really make an assault on the top. They lost over half their games and never won more than three games in a row.
Away wins over St Helens and Warrington, while thumping Castleford at home, shows they can do it, but they’ve also lost to Wakefield and Salford and were smashed at home by a Wigan side who’ve struggled to get away results all season. Hair-pulling stuff for the coach. Their lack of tries is a problem too - just 82, the 10th worst in the whole of Super League.
Super 8 chances:
It looks a tough ask for FC, with four difficult away games lying ahead against Castleford, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan. The sides travelling to the KC Stadium will also have a big red ring round Hull’s name as a potential opportunity for two points.
FC have to prove they’ve got the necessary quality to mix it with the best and finally rise above the mid-table slumber that seems to have settled over Humberside in recent years. But injuries to experienced play-off campaigners, skipper Gareth Ellis and Leon Pryce, will hit their chances hard.
One to watch:
Tom Lineham’s been brilliant in the try-scoring stakes, but his defence needs work and he’s off to Warrington next season. Joe Westerman is delivering on some of the potential that saw him tipped as an England regular when he first broke through at Castleford.
But the star man in black-and-white has to be off-season signing Mark Minichiello. The 35-year-old leads by example; carrying, offloading, tackling, making metres and most importantly - punching holes in defences. He, along with teammate Fetuli Talanoa, have made the fourth-most clean breaks in Super League.
With an all-round game like that, and with Minichiello’s experience, FC will rely on the Aussie in the 8s.
