Hull FC had a chance to silence any doubts and pull clear of the bottom of the table but they were unable to do so as they put in a dismal performance against London Broncos at Magic Weekend.
The Broncos led at the halftime break 12-4 and kept piling the points on to win 29-4 in an embarrassing defeat for Hull FC who have now lost twice to the Broncos this season.
London now draw level on points with Hull FC but due to their Grade A status under IMG, they are at no risk of relegation whereas London are seemingly condemned.
That’s something that head coach Simon Grix noted before the game as he explained that the Black and Whites must ‘imagine’ that it was a relegation decider in order to gain motivation and desperation.
Asked post-game if he saw that from his side, Grix sounded off on Sky Sports about the team’s performance.
“No, no, we didn’t see it (desperation),” Grix stated bluntly.
“Obviously, we’re doing it tough at the moment, and I just think we’re not mentally agile enough when all the changes happen and more adversity comes into the game. We just didn’t really have an answer.”
‘Action don’t back up the talk’ – Hull FC players questioned by Simon Grix
Credit: SWpix
Hull FC have just five more opportunities to get another win this season and try to avoid finishing bottom of the table, something that they have not done in 60 years.
Assessing the performance, Grix bemoaned the quality of both sides but admitted that London got the better of his team comfortably as he pointed towards an inability to back up their ‘talk’.
“We’ve come up against a London team that really are together and they’re on board with what they’re trying to do. I didn’t think it was a great game for either team but they were definitely more composed and handled day.
“I have no complaints about the result. Really disappointed. There’s a lot of talk in our group and the actions don’t really back it up often enough.
“I’m not going to get too emotional about it and start throwing the toys out of the pram. It wasn’t good enough. It looked like a championship game. It wasn’t good enough. Not at the right level for Super League unfortunately and it’s a tough lesson for us to learn.”
Whilst they’ll be playing to avoid coming bottom of the table, Grix also claimed Hull FC must not play for pride with the season so far having been a long and tough one in which the club’s fans haven’t had much to cheer for.
“We’ve got five weeks left and we need to get something out of those five weeks, whether it’s personal pride, team pride, club pride, whatever it may be.”
Huddersfield Giants
Tom Burgess says he won’t stay in Super League for long
