Hull FC labelled “atrocious” as Jon Wilkin questions player efforts

It’s Good Friday and that means Derby Day for those in the world of rugby league with today’s action being kickstarted by Hull KR hosting a Hull FC side whose season so far has been labelled as “atrocious” by Jon Wilkin.

Hull FC opened up Super League the season at their home stadium but they fell flat on their face as rivals Hull KR defeated them 22-0 and since then it hasn’t got much better.

Tony Smith’s side have won just one of their five Super League games this season and were also dumped out of the Challenge Cup by Huddersfield Giants.

Their last two performances have seen them ship 50 points or more in each game whilst scoring a combined ten points and ex-England captain Sam Tomkins has now claimed that the Round One loss to KR has set the tone for the season so far.

Speaking pre-match on Sky Sports, Tomkins said: “They’ve been disappointing, I think Round One set the tone for them. They were heavily beaten by a very good Robins side and from then, even the one victory they got was almost bad news because it was a win against London Broncos.

“They had to score in the last minute to scrape a win so even the one win wasn’t actually good news so for Hull FC there’s pressure to turn it around because it’s going to be a long season if they continue as they are.”

How bad have Hull FC been so far?

Former Hull KR player Jon Wilkin was also working for Sky Sports on the pre-game analysis and he was perhaps even more brutal than his counterpart Tomkins.

Wilkin brutally stated: “I think defensively they’ve been atrocious. They showed a real lack of effort and intent with how they defended and with the ball, they just looked blunt.

“They sit 10th in the table and they look every bit 10th best in the competition. I just can’t see a way where they could ever challenge to get in the playoffs with the current crop of players that they’ve got.”

The suggestion that FC’s defence has been “atrocious” was seconded by Tomkins who went on to reference the last Super League defeat which saw Leigh Leopards run riot at the MKM Stadium.

“You look at the ease that Leigh Leopards had scored some of the tries against them and it was amateurish defending. As a player, as a team, you never want to be questioned on your desire. It looks like to me, in some games, they’ve given up,” Tomkins explained after having previously questioned the desire earlier this week.

Their desire will surely be at another level today given that this is perhaps the biggest game in the calendar for Hull FC, but whether it will be enough to register a win against their rivals is another question.