WEMBLEY WAS JUST THE START
Hull FC determined to follow up Cup success with Grand Final challenge
WINNING the Challenge Cup effectively ended Hull’s season last year, but 12 months on star hooker Danny Houghton believes it is only the beginning.
While the party continues for their supporters – and will do for some time – Hull’s players return to business tonight, just five days after their Wembley triumph, when they visit Leeds Rhinos in the Super-8s.
It is a tall order for the East Yorkshire side, who enthusiastically celebrated their Cup final win over Wigan Warriors on Saturday and Sunday before a homecoming parade in the city on Monday.
Hull’s form disappeared after last year’s first Wembley success as they slipped from top of the Super-8s table to third, eventually losing at Wigan in a suddendeath semi-final.
But Houghton insists that was a valuable experience and they are determined not to fall into the same trap this time. He said: “We have got a shot of going to the Grand Final and we will learn from what happened last year.
“As you saw [on Saturday], we have got a special group of players who dig deep for each other.
“We keep turning up and if we can show that nitty gritty again there’s no reason why we can’t go to Headingley and get a win.”
Leeds have not played for 13 days and are aiming for a 12th successive home win against Hull, but the visitors, who are one place behind Rhinos in third, have every incentive. Victory would cut the gap on Leeds to just one point and revive Hull’s hopes of snatching second place and a home semi-final.
“It is going to be tough,” said Houghton, of tonight’s challenge.
“There’s no hiding away from it, but whether we were in the final or not it was always going to be a tough challenge.
“They are a champion team and they are at the top of their game.
“For any team who goes to Headingley and wins, it is a special win, but we can do it. We know how frustrating it was last year and we want to win some more silverware before the season is out.”
Leeds’s Australian forward Adam Cuthbertson also feels Hull will have learned from their experience in 2016.
“They have won the cup backto-back now and if there’s a team that can cope with a short turnaround like this it is Hull,” he said.
“They have done it once before and they will be better for that because they know what to expect.
“It is an important game for them. They are a great team – as we have seen this year – and they will be tough to beat if they get things right.”
Leeds are one win away from securing a place in the top-four and can open a five-point gap over Hull with just three games remaining before the semi-finals.
“We are going to do everything we can to get the win,” Cuthbertson insisted.
“That will make things a bit more comfortable for us. We really want to get a home semi-final, that is very important come the back end of the year.”
Rhinos also have an opportunity to avenge their 43-24 Challenge Cup semi-final drubbing by Hull a month and two days ago.
Cuthbertson stressed: “We are a much better team than we showed that day.
“We got our game plan wrong, but we have learned a lot from that experience.
“It still hurts – we didn’t want to be sitting around watching Hull lifting the trophy, we wanted to do it ourselves.
“I wouldn’t say we have an incentive from losing that game, but we want to put in a big performance. We will have to play well to beat them.
“They’ve shown they know how to beat us, but up until that game we have been quite good against them. It is one of those, it is who is best-prepared, plays well on the day and has the right game plan to make sure of the win.”