Hull FC boss rues “pretty dumb” errors as they lose again

Hull FC interim coach Simon Grix has reacted to his side’s 22-20 loss to Salford Red Devils revealing his frustration, blaming “pretty dumb” errors as they team’s downfall.

Their hosts Salford Red Devils entered the game in brilliant form with three straight wins including against playoff sides Warrington Wolves and St Helens but Paul Rowley’s side made hard work of victory over the Black and Whites.

Hull FC actually scored four tries to Salford’s three in the game but the boot of Marc Sneyd saw Salford through with Grix even pointing out that kicker Ben Reynolds missed a “slightly easy one” that proved very costly.

His failure to convert Lewis Martin’s 77th-minute try meant that we avoided a third straight Super League game going to golden point following yesterday’s drama-filled games.

For Grix and Hull FC though, it’s another key opportunity missed and he failed to hold back that frustration when he spoke to BBC Humberside post-match.

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The interim Hull FC boss was asked on his initial thoughts, answering: “I feel frustrated but obviously proud of the lads. There were a lot of young blokes out there, which is great for us and our future as a club.

“It’s great that we’re competing and everyone has probably earned a little bit of respect over the last few weeks from when we were getting hammered every week, but we want to win games.

“I think that one was one that one where I thought we had a few opportunities where we had to be a bit smarter and then we might have come away with the win. It does feel like we’ve left a win out there today.”

Assessing the loss even further, the Hull FC boss argued that a lack of creativity until too late was incredibly costly with the Black and Whites scoring two of their four tries in the final 15 minutes.

“We kept doing the same plays and not changing stuff based on what they were showing us in defence. So we played pretty dumb at times and then at the end, we get a little bit of depth, we get our skill right, and we go through them but we’d been crying out for that whole game, really.”

Marc Sneyd picked up another Man of the Match award with his two conversions and three penalties highlighting the value of an elite kicker, something Hull FC have in Ben Reynolds but the loanee was off target today.

Grix lamented that and the loss in general, stating: “I mean Benny missed an easy one, you can forgive the majority of them on the sideline, can’t you, but he missed a slightly easy one which is not like him, because he can kick very well.

“I just think a bit of smarts probably took it away from us. If we’d have been a bit smarter on occasion then we might have done a bit more of it, but we’ll move on.”