“Horrible watch” – Hull FC coach blasts technical issues as referee, key decisions and inconsistency slammed

Andy Last has admitted that he had to take a moment after the game to ‘kick some balls and smash a few water bottles’ on account of his frustration after Hull FC lost to Castleford Tigers.

The Black and Whites, riding a wave off a win over St Helens and the announcement of Daly Cherry-Evans’ signing, put in a very poor performance as they lost to the Tigers, trailing 12-0 early on only to take the lead and then still lose 18-14 thanks to a late Liam Hood try.

There had been questions from some about Hood’s try but Last was clear that it was in fact a try, however, that highlighted one of his major gripes from the game and that was the fact that there was no game clock or access to video replays for large parts of the game.

Captain’s challenges were made and went by without any replays being shown and Last has highlighted those technical issues as making it a ‘horrible watch’ at the MKM Stadium on Friday night.

“It was a very chaotic game,” he admitted post-match to BBC Radio Humberside, adding: “It’d be nice for the referee to have a little bit of support from the video ref because I don’t think it was his best game tonight.

“I’m disappointed with some of the decisions that went against us but like I say, it was a chaotic game and there was too many I felt that went against us.”

One call he wasn’t happy with was Harvey Barron’s no try after the winger intercepted a pass and raced 90 metres, only for it to be called back thanks to what was a soft hit off the ball.

Last argued: “I don’t know what Batch (Joe Batchelor) can do there. He comes up, he pressures ball player, ball player goes into the line, he two-hand touches him and as he goes down. He wasn’t trying to milk a penalty, he’s got the ball away, he throws the pass, Harvey Baron intercepts and they pull back for a late hit on the tackler.

“I just don’t know what he’s meant to do. That’s something that they need to have a look at because it wasn’t a good one.”

As for the Hood try, the FC coach referred back to Herman Ese’ese’s no try last week against St Helens, stating: “Hood definitely scored but last week Herman definitely scored (and it was) no try. The inconsistency kills us, not only from the referees but from us as a team. Inconsistency kills us.”

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Hull FC coach tees off on number of major issues in loss to Castleford Tigers

Inconsistency was a theme of the presser with Last unable to answer why his side have such difficulties at keeping performances to the same sustained level.

He said: “Disappointed with the performance, disappointed with the result, we spoke all week about the dangers of the game due to obviously the issues that Castleford are having.

“We need to make sure that we perform well, be a consistent team but our inconsistencies are on display once again.”

Asked simply ‘wcan’t Hull F.C. play well two weeks in a row?’, Last responded: “I wish I knew, I wish I knew.

“Preparation during the week was good, messaging was good. It was nice to actually have a week where we’ve got some positives from the previous week. The lads felt good but our inability to deliver back-to-back consistent performances has been an Achilles heel now for a long time.

“It just didn’t seem in sync. We were really fluent with the ball against St Helens, our halves looked creative, the middles did a really good solid job but tonight we didn’t get on the front foot well enough.

“We got marked down the field a little bit too easily and when we had some good ball field positions, that connection wasn’t there.”

He also bemoaned the stadium experience, particularly the captain’s challenges with the replays not being aired in the ground.

Last said: “No one knows what’s going on, me included, I don’t know what they’re challenging for. That connection between what’s going on on the pitch and the supporters due to the issues that we had with the feed, yeah it made it a horrible watch.”

He also confirmed that he’d taken out some of his frustration in the changing rooms, explaining: “I had a little bit of a moment to myself just in the changing rooms there, just kicked a few balls around and smacked a couple of water bottles here and there, just a little bit of frustration which I didn’t want the players obviously to see. The players have obviously had some stern words from myself.”