Hull FC coach Lee Radford bemoaned a poor second half display by his team, as St. Helens got back to winning ways at the KCOM Stadium, with a gritty 32-18 victory.
In his post-match press conference Radford said: “I thought the effort was there in the first half, I thought our detail down their end of the field wasn’t.
“Our kicking game certainly wasn’t there, so there were some good bits in that first 40, but we spoke all week about it needed to be for 80, and that wasn’t the case after the set back of half time.
“I was really disappointed with the response of some individuals, I just felt we turned into a team of officials, instead of a team of rugby players.
“To my knowledge, when you put all your focus on trying to make a referee change his decision, the outcome to that is usually negative since I’ve played the game and watched it and I would imagine it will continue.”
Was losing Ratu Naulago a big blow at half time?
“Massively yeah, losing Josh Bowden in the warm-up probably didn’t help either, but such is life.”
Was the defeat a reality check?
“No. We knew we had to play for 80, we played for 40, the reality is if we respond like we did in that second half, with a bit of adversity you get beat.”
Did it feel harsh when a kick from Jake Connor was adjudged to have gone out on the full?
“No, what felt harsh was the try when Welsby knocks on a mile, that felt harsher.
“I thought that was an awful decision, but I’m pretty sure several of our players would have let him know that as well.”
