Last: Penny is dropping at FC
PLAYERS GETTING TO GRIPS WITH WHAT’S WANTED
ANDY Last believes ‘the penny is starting to drop’ for his Hull FC as confidence soars at the KCOM Stadium.
On the back of some impressive form through October, the Black and Whites have the opportunity to win a third successive game this week when they meet Hull KR at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
Not since June 2019 have FC managed such a feat, with form being up and down throughout the entire 2020 campaign.
However, recent performances have ensured a play-off finish is still mathematically possible heading into Hull’s final three games of the campaign, and their last two displays have been particularly eye-catching with dominant wins coming against Huddersfield and Castleford.
Last has understandably been delighted with his side of late, praising his players’ commitment and energy both on the training field and on the pitch regularly, but he believes an increase in player accountability is directly linked to a rise in self-belief.
“That confidence has come from guys accepting their roles within the team and just doing their jobs and focusing on their individual jobs rather than worrying about other people’s jobs, they’ve done their own job,” he said.
“I think when you concentrate on your own job, the collective gets the job done.
“That’s been a real positive for us in the last few weeks. The forwards are running hard and running in pairs, getting on the front foot and running in shape.
“Because they’re doing that it gives the half-backs a platform to play off and when they have that they make good decisions and they end up making a decision playing on the front foot and the kicking game is effective because there’s no pressure on them.
“Then, when the forwards are seeing the half-backs make good decisions and believing the process and turning the ball over the right way, you get that perfect circle in terms of performance.
“You add to that the outside backs not making the errors they were out of yardage and then being clinical when we get good ball opportunities – that’s a team.
“What we have to do is keep reiterating that point, there’s a process to every game and if we buy into that process and do individual jobs, we’re competing and we’re a real challenge for any team in the competition if we’re prepared to do that.
“It feels as though the penny is starting to drop with the team and individuals and we’re getting some positive performances on the back of doing those things.”