Hull FC boss addresses Liam Knight red card with ‘brain explosion’ admission

Hull FC boss John Cartwright called his side’s ill-discipline at Magic Weekend ‘dumb’ as they handed Huddersfield Giants their first win of the season. The Black and Whites were overwhelming favourites to pick up the win against Luke Robinson’s side prior to kick-off.

However, they could have no complaints about their defeat with Liam Knight being sent off and Sam Eseh being sin-binned at a crucial point of the first half. Both cards were for shoulder to head contact but the difference was the lack of mitigation in Knight’s, who collided with Sam Hewitt and made no attempt to wrap.

With the East Yorkshire side a man down, they struggled to find a way back into the contest at St James’ Park, with Jacob Gagai’s second half try ultimately proving to be the difference. It means Hull have now lost three games on the spin in Super League, with the decline in their performances being clear to see.

Hull FC head coach labels ill-discipline ‘dumb’

“A total lack of discipline,” Cartwright said after the game. “We weren’t playing well by half-time but we were still in the game and the five minutes before half-time we just exploded.

“Call it what you like, a brain explosion, but probably just dumb to be honest with you.

“I don’t think [the red] was much different to the other two that were yellow carded so whether he’d just had enough and wanted to make a statement, I don’t know. I’ll hopefully get some… well it doesn’t help us now anyway but it didn’t look that much different to the other two.

“I just think it was frustration from the way we were playing. There’s been a little bit of a decline in the way we’ve been going over the last month.

“Maybe a bit of frustration but I don’t have an excuse for you. They’re grown men, they know the rules and I can’t explain it for you.”