Hull FC have seen their dismal disciplinary record exacerbated after their latest player ban this week.
They, again, suffered perhaps their most humiliating defeat of the season this weekend, the wrong side of a 68-6 scoreline against Leeds Rhinos.
The Black and Whites are level on points with bottom side London Broncos, after just three wins all season each, but are just ahead on points difference.
With just two games to go, they’re facing the very real possibility of finishing bottom, but luckily for them, IMG reforms mean they won’t be relegated to the RFL Championship due to their grading.
They will be now without Jed Cartwright due to a Grade C Dangerous Contact charge this week, resulting in a one-match ban.
All year, FC have struggled with disciplinary issues – with Nu Brown’s early-season red card setting the tone for a long campaign.
In fact, three bans were handed out – to Ligi Sao, Herman Ese’ese and Franklin Pele – after just the first game of the year.
Now, Cartwright’s ban means they’ve had the most games in bans handed out to their players – he takes them up to 21, ahead of Wigan Warriors with 20.
Number of bans is not the only unwanted stat for Hull FC this year, however.
Hull FC and their dismal disciplinary record
Credit: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
They’ve received four red cards this season – the most of any side, joint with Huddersfield Giants.
In addition to this, they’ve been handed the most yellow cards, with 19, followed by Leigh Leopards with 18 and Salford Red Devils with 15.
This, of course, means they’ve spent the most time of any team in the league down to 12 men, putting more pressure on them defensively as well as making it trickier to get up the field themselves.
Yet another stat is that they only sit behind Wigan Warriors in terms of the number of penalties given away.
