Hull FC boss Brett Hodgson makes Jake Connor admission

Hull FC went down 36-8 on a disappointing afternoon in the South of France to a dominant Catalans Dragons.

The Black and Whites never really looked like winning after slipping to a big deficit early on whilst tries from Darnell McIntosh and Josh Griffin weren’t enough to cause any damage to the final result.

“The first-half was where that game was won and lost. Our lack of execution when we have the ball in good positions really hurt us too. In the first 35 minutes, we had three of four sets in really good areas and ended up making errors and just failing to build any pressure,” Hodgson said.

“Catalans did that exceptionally well – we played a very good team who taught us some lessons.

“We had many players out there who need to be better. Our halves need to step up in Jake’s absence, but they aren’t the only two.”

With Jake Connor missing from the action due to injury, Hodgson admitted that his presence in the side would have unlikely changed the result due to the Dragons’ dominance.

“If Jake played today, the result would be the same – we know his strengths but we didn’t build pressure and it was Catalans best performance for a number of strengths so they were simply too good.”

Hodgson continued: “Those conditions hinder you when you aren’t completing your sets. When you have the ball and you’re enjoying that part of the game, it doesn’t matter. But when you’re under the pump and have got players dropping out with injuries, that’s when you feel the heat.

“Discipline is an issue, and it’s something we’re talking about. There were three or four high tackles in the first-half and they just put pressure on us.”