Hull FC Head Coach Tony Smith had plenty of controversial topics to address in his pre-match press conference as the Black and Whites gear up to take on Warrington Wolves.
Hull FC lost to bitter rivals Hull KR in Round One in a game that saw three of Smith’s players carded at the start of a controversial week for disciplinary in Super League.
Smith addressed the situation with tackle height on Hull FC’s official website as he said: “To put some of this in perspective, we’re all trying to change our techniques but some of these young men have been tackling the same way for all their career, 20 years.
“To ask them to him to change quickly and get it to happen so quickly is tough I think and we’re nervous.
“We’re concerned, we’re concerned, yeah. There are changes and we understand there needs to be changes and we do. It’s just the severity of it and I think the phrase that’s being used, we’ve got to be careful not to go from 0 to 100 too quickly.”
Hull FC boss addresses strike
There has also been talk of a players strike from Rugby League Live and Smith also took the time to address that.
He said it shouldn’t come to that point with discussions hopefully had about disciplinary. He said:
“I don’t think it should come to that and I don’t think we need to come to that, hopefully. But I think we need some big grown-up discussions and some debates and discussions about the severity of the punishments.
“That’s the big concern. I don’t think too many people would argue about the use of punishment to the right levels. I think it’s more about the level, rather than whether something should be punished or not.
“We want our players on the field for 80 minutes. We know that during a 10-minute period, you can concede two or three tries and the outcomes of games can go, bang, done. You get send-offs and that’s it.”
He added about his own squad: “Nobody’s come to me to suggest that there’s any disruptions to how they’re feeling about things.”
Challenge Cup
Five potential new venues for the Challenge Cup Final
