Hull boss backs ‘quicker’ game changes
HULL coach Lee Radford believes the new rule changes being introduced in Super League will benefit his team in 2019.
Radford, whose side ended 2018 with 11 successive defeats, has welcomed the arrival of the shot clock and the reduction in the number of interchanges, believing a faster game will suit his side.
“I’m definitely on board with them,” Radford said at the club’s pre-season media day at the KCOM Stadium. “I was a little bit disappointed they didn’t go full tilt and have the two refs as well.
“I wasn’t a fan but when we played under two refs in Australia against St George, all of the players said it really cleaned the ruck up, so I went from being a hater to a lover.
“A quicker game suits us. It might not suit some teams but when we play quick, when our game speeds are high, we tend to get a result. We’ve practised all pre-season around that.
“Bizarrely we didn’t play to the new rules last Sunday (against Doncaster) but we are going to on Sunday against Wakefield.” Hull’s close-season recruitment has been modest in comparison to the majority of their Super League rivals but Radford is hoping the return of a host of senior players from injury can provide a tonic.
“In the eights last year we had £700,000 worth of our salary cap sitting in the stand,” he said. “That meant some of our young fellas were playing week in, week out.”
Hull will have half-backs Albert Kelly and Marc Sneyd fit for the opening game against Hull KR on February 1.