Last: We’ll have to step it up a notch
COACH SAYS BLACK AND WHITES NEED TO FIND ANOTHER GEAR TO BEAT WIGAN WARRIORS
ANDY Last says Hull FC must take things up a notch if they are to find a way to beat Wigan Warriors on Thursday night.
The Black and Whites turned in their best performance of the season against Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium last week to secure their spot in the play-off semi-finals.
It means that after the turbulent year the club have been through, they find themselves just one win away from competing in a Grand Final on home soil.
Last will be confident of putting an action plan together capable of seeing off the League Leaders’ Shield winners, but he believes if they are to extend their campaign by another game they’ll have to raise the bar once more.
“Wigan are the league leaders and they gave us a real lesson in the Challenge Cup quarter-final, but we need to improve Thursday’s performance and be even better this week,” the interim head coach said after his side saw off Warrington.
“We’re 80 minutes away from playing in a Grand Final so if that doesn’t motivate the group, they’re in the wrong game. I’m expecting a good week of practise.
“To get to the Grand Final you have to beat the top teams.
“It’s a trophy you want and to win any sort of trophy you have to beat the best teams. We’ll do it the hard way by beating Wigan.
“They’re an exceptional side, hard to play against and defensively they’re strong, good individuals, well coached and we’ll need to be better than we were on Thursday to beat them.”
The win last week meant Hull have now won five of their last six fixtures in all competitions and can be considered the competition’s form team at present.
That momentum could be key come Thursday night says Last against a side who will have had close to a fortnight off by the time kick-off comes around.
“As a coach who’s part of it I would say it plays into our hands. We’ve got a bit of momentum, we’ve played a few games over the last four weeks and had some good performances,” Last said.
“We’re match hardened and I’m sure Adrian (Lam) will be happy with the fact that they’ve got a week off.
“They’re a good side and they’ll cause you problems but we have momentum building and hopefully we can time this run to perfection.”