WE’RE READY TO FACE CAS.
LAST SAYS WIN OVER GIANTS LEAVES FC IN CONFIDENT MOOD
ANDY Last believes Hull FC’S morale-boosting 18-16 win over Huddersfield Giants sets his side up perfectly for the final five games of the season.
A late Marc Sneyd penalty saw Hull over the line at the Halliwell Jones Stadium to keep their faint hopes of reaching the Super League play-offs alive.
The Black and Whites still have plenty to do over the final month of the campaign, in which they have to play three of the current top four, while other results have to go their way too.
But, they know if they build on their win over the Giants and find form over the coming weeks, they’ll give themselves a chance of a late dash into the Grand Final reckoning, with a return to the KCOM Stadium to face Castleford Tigers on Sunday next on the calendar. Last, though, believes the performance against the Giants ensures his side go into that game full of confidence.
“We spoke about that going into this game, we want to try and win every match we play in and compete in every game we play in,” Last told the Mail.
“I was shocked in regards Sunday, when you step in on 24 hours’ notice to do Castleford a favour and then the fixture list gives them two weeks to prepare for us, they’ll be fresh and will have had plenty of time to get ready for us.
“It’s going to be a ding-dong game on
Sunday and I’m sure Cas to will have a full deck of cards. We’ll hopefully have some bodies back. “But the lessons we learned today and being able to defend and hang in there to get the result will do us a world of good from a confidence point of view.”
FC were the better side for large periods against Luke Robinson’s side and held the lead for most of the game thanks to tries from Ratu Naulago, Mahe Fonua and Bureta Faraimo. Huddersfield wouldn’t go away, though, hitting back with three tries of their own to take Hull all the way. Nevertheless, Last was delighted with the grit and determination his side showed contest.
“That defensive resolve was there and I was really pleased with the response from the team from a defensive point of view,” he added.
“We had a harsh review after the Leeds game and spoke about detail in certain areas from a ruck point of view and I thought our middles did a hell of a good job.
“Little things like the kick pressure, the escorting on the high kicks, the transition to get back behind the ball, the kick chase was outstanding and Joe Cator ran his blood to water.
“I thought the team worked really hard and there was a collective effort and a collective spirit at the end of the game where we had blokes speaking about the great job the middles had done.
“There was a real good feel in the changing rooms after the match because everyone did their jobs and we need to do it again on Sunday.” defensively to edge the