Andy Last has hailed Hull FC for an ‘outstanding’ performance in their final game of the Super League season that saw them knock off Leeds Rhinos in a performance that he’s admitted has left him scratching his head.
The Black and Whites have been dire for large parts of the 2026 season but they ended with a shock win over the Rhinos as 9/1 underdogs, beating the Grand Final hopefuls 18-12.
It comes just a week after an abject performance in France when the Black and Whites lost to Toulouse, and last himself conceded that the club’s consistency is the biggest thing that they need to work on ahead of 2027.
“I’m scratching my head,” he admitted when speaking to BBC Radio Humberside.
“Honestly, the first 40 minutes against Toulouse, in comparison to the first 40 minutes in this game, it’s like two completely different teams and the challenge for us as a coaching staff next year is we’ve got to get a level of consistency from week to week but also from game to game and day to day.
“We speak about it but yeah I think that’s the big question that we need to answer. We’ve got to dig deep and be more consistent on a week to week basis.”
Despite their win, Last was honest enough to admit that Leeds were the dominant team, however, that ensured his side showed grit that they perhaps have not displayed this season – something that pleased him.
“Outstanding. To come up with the effort and that performance and that result is nothing short of amazing,” he declared.
“They dominated position, they dominated possession, and we just consistently turned them away. Our spirit, our desire, the grit and determination was evident for everyone to see. To get our noses in front and then able to hold on, fantastic way to finish the season.
“In terms of metres, in terms of completion rate, in terms of possession, position, they absolutely dominated us. But the one place that didn’t dominate us was on the scoreboard.”
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Hull FC coach reveals off-season plans
It was a game that brings an end to his second spell as interim head coach of the club and he’s now set to resume his position as assistant coach next year, albeit under new boss Steve McNamara.
When asked for his feelings on that, Last said: “Absolutely not sad it’s over. It’s been very challenging emotionally, mentally and physically for myself and that game probably typifies the season that we’ve had.
“You just don’t know what we’re going to get with this Hull FC group. That performance there was outstanding and we got a great result and we’ve played with so much spirit and effort and there’s been many occasions where we’ve been on the wrong side of the result. Tonight, lots of spirit, lots of effort, but this time was on the right side of the result and it is a results-based business.”
Going forward, he confirmed: “I’ll be having a couple of conversations and chats with Steve on his days off. Obviously he’s still got a job to do with Warrington. We’ll be doing a little bit of planning.
“The lads have had some testing which they performed on Monday and Wednesday which has given us the basis for the pre-season. The pre-season is all planned, we’re just going to go through all that. The lads will obviously have a little bit of time off and then we’ll be in contact with them and it’ll be a case of getting ready for pre-season.”
The Black and Whites boss also responded to reports that Arthur Romano will return to Catalans Dragons, something that seemingly caught him off guard.
“I don’t know anything about that. That’s news to me,” he said.
“Arthur is obviously contracted to us. He’s contracted for next year and we’re planning for Arthur to be around until that changes. I can’t comment on that.”
