THE PAIN BARRIER
Smith: ‘No magic wand’ for Hull’s agonies... as Wolves do damage
6 HULL FC coach Tony Smith says there’s no magic wand, but given time he knows how to cast a spell on clubs.
The 56-year-old is having teething problems in his early days at Hull, just as he did when he took the Warrington Wolves job in 2009.
But Smith (right) came out swinging after seeing his team suffer a fifth straight defeat, at the hands of his former club – pointing to his reign at the Halliwell Jones Stadium as an example of what patience can bring.
“When I came here some years ago, there was no magic wand,” said
Smith, who won three Challenge Cups and two League Leaders’ Shields as Warrington boss.
“We happened to go on and win the Challenge Cup in my first year here but the rest of the season we weren’t great.
“It took time to turn this place around and for us to become one of the strong teams in the competition.
“We’d all love to be able to wave a magic wand and think it’s only going to take a game or two – but it just doesn’t happen that way.
“I’d have loved for it to have happened already to FC. We’re still going through a bit of pain – and may well do for a little time.
“We want to fix it up as quickly as we can and get up to the calibre of club Warrington have been for a number of years.”
Hull had no answer to a red-hot Wolves in the opening 40 minutes as the hosts raced into a 28-0 lead thanks to tries from Matty Ashton, Peter Mata’utia, Ben Currie, Matt Dufty and Josh Drinkwater. Smith’s side got on the scoreboard in the end through Brad Dwyer but the hosts still had the last word, courtesy of Matty Nicholson.
Hull must quickly pick themselves up and get ready for a Good Friday derby against fierce rivals Hull KR.
“We would have liked better prep, that’s for sure,” added Smith. “We would like to be coming off a confident and resounding win. We’ve got to get together and dig deep to put out a display, derby or not.
“I know people are going to get caught up in the derby this week and hopefully it might lift us – but we just need to be good for our club and badge.”
A seventh straight win has Warrington dreaming of a return to Old Trafford after a nightmare first season under boss Daryl Powell in 2022.
The Wolves cruised past Hull despite losing several key men, offering encouragement to Powell ahead of fixtures against Catalan Dragons, Wigan Warriors and St Helens.
Powell said: “We’re winning games. We’re coming into three pivotal fixtures now – and on the back of what we’ve done at the start of the season, it’s giving us a lot of confidence going into that block of games.” WARRINGTON WOLVES: Tries: Ashton, Mata’utia, Currie, Dufty, Drinkwater, Nicholson;
Cons: Ratchford (5)
HULL FC: Try: Dwyer;
Con: Clifford