Tony Smith questions controversial decision that helped cost Hull FC

Hull FC have had it toughest this season terms of disciplinary with the most bans and now six games on the spin when they have been reduced to at least 12 men.

This week it was Ligi Sao who was sin binned for Hull FC with the forward shown a yellow card for his late hit after a kick.

This came at a point in the game that Tony Smith felt the match was beginning to maybe turn back towards his side after they had done it tough against Huddersfield Giants.

The Hull FC Head Coach had his say on the matter when speaking to BBC Radio Humberside: “I’m feeling for the players. I’m feeling for it. I felt for Ligi. It was Ligi who did it this time and he came out to put some pressure on and just didn’t pull up quick enough.

“I don’t think there was anything in it but the rules are the rules and if you put the kicker down after the balls kicked then it is ten minutes.

“I like that that the kicker got up straight away, didn’t try and milk it, wasn’t trying to make any more of it, and actually he diffused it really, because there wasn’t anything in it.”

Hull FC boss explains how yellow card impacted game

The Hull FC Head Coach would go on to elaborate on the incident and how it undermined their chances of wrestling back control: “Sometimes it’s difficult to pull out of some of those sort of situations, but we’ve got to learn to. Otherwise, we put ourselves under way too much pressure. I didn’t think we started the game well, but we fought our way back in for a while, and I just thought it was getting back to that arm wrestle sort of stage when the sin binning happened.

“I’m not saying we were going to go on to win that game, that’s why we lost that game, no, not at all. But I just felt it was at that point in time where we had fought our way back in, ground our way back in, even if we weren’t playing well, to where we could maybe go with an arm wrestle for a bit longer, but unfortunately that’s not the case.”