Hull FC boss Tony Smith has addressed the club’s opening night defeat to Hull KR.
The Black and Whites were nilled by their rivals 22-0 and had two men sent off in a difficult opening game for the club against their biggest rivals.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Smith explained that a lot went wrong for the Arlie Birds.
He said: “Yeah, loads went wrong. Some of it before the kick-off we had a bit of illness. That probably disrupted us a little bit before we went out there. Some of the on-field incidents certainly disrupted us.
“Losing Joe Cator early, having a send-off. I thought for 12 men for most of that second half, I thought the players had a real dig, you know, and they tried really hard, but it wasn’t to be tonight. Our opposition deserved it. They did enough tonight, but yeah, we’ll go back and lick our wounds and get ready for the next one.”
It was a night where everything went against the Black and Whites.
Hull FC boss addresses injury
Mandatory Credit: Photo by LEXY ILSLEY/PPAUK/Shutterstock 12843179ad Joe Cator of Hull FC is injured during the Betfred Super League match between Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC at Headingley Stadium on 10 March 2022. Photo: Lexy Ilsley/PPAUK Leeds Rhinos v Hull FC, Super League rugby, Leeds, UK – 10 Mar 2022 Leeds Rhinos v Hull FC, Super League rugby, Leeds, UK
Pretty much everything that could go wrong for Hull FC, did go wrong. The writing was on the wall when Liam Sutcliffe pulled out and then Joe Cator went off with a hamstring injury.
This was also addressed by Tony Smith after the game as he said: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m not sure what level it is and I’ll get all the prognosis later, but yeah, it’s serious enough. But we’ve got a few bumps and bruises and we’ll probably have a couple out of the wrist next week as well. So we’ll start to get on the hatches and come back strong.”
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