Hull FC saw their play-off hopes handed a huge dent when they lost to Huddersfield Giants on Saturday and coach John Cartwright has tried to explain why.
Having finally won at the MKM Stadium for the first time in almost a year when they beat Wakefield recently, it was back to losing ways as lowly-placed Huddersfield Giants won 30-14.
It marks the second time the Giants have beaten the Black and Whites in 2025, having also won at Magic Weekend in their first win of the year, and should Hull FC miss the play-offs then those shock defeats will be highlighted even more so.
An understandably frustrating defeat, John Cartwright highlighted that post-match with club media outlining his thoughts after the match.
“It was a reverse of last week,” the Australian said, adding: “We turned up to Wigan, completed high, kicked long, and forced some errors, and Huddersfield did that to us this week.”
The dominant win over Wigan came just seven days prior but Hull couldn’t replicate any of that as they faltered against the Giants.
‘No excuses’ for Hull FC after shock loss
With Wakefield having edged Leeds Rhinos on Thursday night, it means that Hull FC now head into their week off outside of the top six and the club’s head coach admitted that maybe the week off is coming at the right time.
He said: “Every loss is disappointing. I take losses hard, and I think the players do and the fans do as well. It’s back to the drawing board.
“We’ve got no excuses. It was disappointing, so maybe the week off has come at the right time.”
Discussing the lack of consistency, he said: “I don’t think we need to look at who we are picking; I think we need to keep working hard to get those performances closer to some of our better games this year.”
He’d also bemoan the speed of the game, stating: “It wasn’t a game where you wanted to be behind the scoreboard, as it was so slow.
“It was like an NFL game, and trying to build fatigue in an opposition was hard. We got the rest as well. I’m not looking for excuses; both sides got lots of rest because of the slowness of the game.
“But there were stages of that game where we did look a bit flat and stale. Whether that’s the case or not, I don’t know, but we’ll try and dissect it over the next couple of days.”
Hull FC will be back out on the 10th of August when they host Salford Red Devils and that’s a game that Jordan Rapana should be back for, despite Cartwright confirming the New Zealander failed a HIA.
The boss revealed: “He failed his HIA, but we’ve got that break. Hopefully, he’s okay. We’ll always look after his health first, but if he’s okay, he’ll be available for the next game.”
