Fri 17 Sept: SL: Wakefield Trinity v Hull FC KO 19:45

[Old Frightful]

12 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

He’s got the other one, KR10 SFC… my Uncle and officially the most one-eyed, irreconcilable-to-reality Rovers fan of all time. I can only apologise!

As Victor Meldrew might say after the watershed..."I don't f** king believe it!"

[Agbrigg]

4 hours ago, Ullman said:

Good post mate, as far as the youngsters are concerned we had one making his debut last night in Jacob Hookem who I think is going to be a regular in the first team for many years. The kid is going to be a star.

His he any relation to 'left' hookem , he was the UKIP bloke that slotted the other UKIP man . I know old left hookem was from over hull way.

[Ullman]

21 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

His he any relation to 'left' hookem , he was the UKIP bloke that slotted the other UKIP man . I know old left hookem was from over hull way.

Not sure. Mike Hookem is definitely from West Hull but I don't know if Jacob is related. Wouldn't be surprised. It's not exactly a common surname.

[Josef K]

10 hours ago, Barry Badrinath said:

Did they ever get rid of the cancer that Sean mccrae was complaining about a while or so back.

 

Hull fans,  who exactly are the players that are letting you down?

 

Not the fabulous overseas players  like tuimivave who's been there for ages.

 

Not scott Taylor and the other English forwards.

 

Or is it the fantastic Hull youth that you being through? 

 

Now, whilst this question is sort of tongue in cheek, I genuinely don't know, it all keeps changing,  this weird malaise continues 

How has Swift gone on for you this season. I would’ve liked him to have stayed at Saints, but he wanted first team RL which i can totally understand. 

[Old Frightful]

7 hours ago, Josef K said:

How has Swift gone on for you this season. I would’ve liked him to have stayed at Saints, but he wanted first team RL which i can totally understand. 

I might be wrong but I think the person you quoted is a Wire fan so perhaps you meant to quote me instead?

Like Joe Cator, Adam Swift is another I failed to mention in my critique of the Hull squad. I couldn't understand why Hull signed Swift initially, we had Fonua, Faraimo and Naulago at the time and I couldn't see him getting much in the way of first team run outs which is why he left Saints. I was quick to criticise him after his early appearances and thought he was another of Hull's dud signings who would be farmed out to another club. He went on to prove me wrong though (as plenty do), as he was given opportunities when Naulago left and quickly (see what I did there) became a fans' favourite. He's not just a pacey runner though, he often is the first man hit up early in the set giving his forwards a breather, as seemingly all Hull wingers are required to do. He also is one of not too many SL wingers who you can be confident of not being caught when put in the clear. A very good winger and he also seems to be a very likeable bloke as well.

I'm expecting something of a crisis meeting between Adam Pearson and Brett Hodgson soon, if it hasn't already happened with a few players exiting the club in an effort to show the fans that they won't tolerate things as they currently stand.

Swift won't be one of those leaving.

[Kirmonds pouch]

Might be worth mentioning but Trinity have a good record against both Hull teams. No idea why. I don’t know the figures but we always seem to be up for both teams.

Whether we are high in the league ie 2018 72-10 or this year with 6 from a possible 8 points, almost half our total. Not so much of a surprise with HKR who’s SL history has been sketchy but against FC who have always been big spenders it is.

Take Humberside out of the equation and we’d really struggle. I think it goes back to 2004 and our shock defeat of Hull in the play offs but since then Hull has always been a game we fancy winning even though we don’t by any means always manage it.

So to me Friday was no surprise and although we’re a relatively in form team on Friday I’d have fancied us regardless of that.

Truth is I’d give them both up to beat Cas twice a year but beggars can’t be choosers.

[Harry Stottle]

22 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

How can they be so bad with such a good squad

The exact same thing could be said about my lot Tommy

[MZH]

On 18/09/2021 at 12:21, Old Frightful said:

I  was considering this last night and you're perfectly correct as regards Carlos Tuimavave who is the one consistently outstanding professional at Hull FC. You could never imagine him taking to the field just waiting for the 80 minutes to finish.

I would also include Jake Connor insofar as he is a natural competitor and clearly hates losing. I know he has his critics and doesn't always make the right choices but, my word, when he does I wouldn't swap him for any other player in SL.

Scott Taylor is up there as well, never letting any of his team mates down.

Get rid of his errors and there's not a bigger hearted player than Bureta Faraimo, Lord knows why we're offloading him.

Danny Houghton is another, although the years now seem to be taking their toll on his recent performances but he would never have his eye on the clock.

Josh Griffin is another outstanding player and 100% giver.

After those names you start to struggle when the question is asked "Will you miss him if he's unavailable?"

Satae, Lane, Wynne, Sao, Savelio, Ma'u, Fash, Fonua, Shaul all make telling contributions to the side but of those I would say only three or four of them would interest a consistently performing top 6 SL side if they were available.

The remaining members of the squad, including Marc Sneyd, struggle when the going gets tough.

Scott, McNamara and Johnstone, I would be perfectly happy never to see them in a Hull jersey again.

And I can't recall the last really good youngster who became a first team regular for more than a year or so, we simply don't seem to produce them sadly.

Summat needs to happen, the fans' loyalty is still very strong and, if and when Pearson gets it right, he shouldn't have many financial worries.

Trouble is, he's been at Hull for ten years now and still doesn't seem to be anywhere close to getting it right.

I'd upgrade Satae to your list of players that you singled out. I think he is consistently one of the best props in SL. I do however think that covid may have taken a real toll on him. He missed a couple of games with it and didn't look half the player when he returned. Hopefully a good rest a strong pre season will see him back at his best.

Its very hard to put your finger on exactly what's wrong at the club, but the playing squad is definitely one of the factors. I'd agree with you that there are only perhaps 4 or 5 players I'd be gutted to lose. Then another 7 or 8 who are an important part of our squad, but not irreplaceable. After that I couldn't really care whether they stay or go, and there's a few who I'd happily drive to their new club.

[Ullman]

27 minutes ago, MZH said:

I'd upgrade Satae to your list of players that you singled out. I think he is consistently one of the best props in SL. I do however think that covid may have taken a real toll on him. He missed a couple of games with it and didn't look half the player when he returned. Hopefully a good rest a strong pre season will see him back at his best.

Its very hard to put your finger on exactly what's wrong at the club, but the playing squad is definitely one of the factors. I'd agree with you that there are only perhaps 4 or 5 players I'd be gutted to lose. Then another 7 or 8 who are an important part of our squad, but not irreplaceable. After that I couldn't really care whether they stay or go, and there's a few who I'd happily drive to their new club.

I don't think there's any doubt about that and he won't have been the only one.

[MZH]

59 minutes ago, Ullman said:

I don't think there's any doubt about that and he won't have been the only one.

This is one reason why I'm holding back on my criticism a bit. Early in the season we actually showed some good signs and I was happy with what Hodgson had brought and the direction we were going. Its maybe no coincidence that our form went off a cliff around the time of the 2 covid outbreaks we had. We may never know just how many players were effected and just how badly. Throw in a few key injuries and there's no doubt we were doing it tough. 

Its not really an excuse because there were undoubtedly some other shortcomings too. But it's something to consider.

[Ullman]

10 hours ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

Might be worth mentioning but Trinity have a good record against both Hull teams. No idea why. I don’t know the figures but we always seem to be up for both teams.

Whether we are high in the league ie 2018 72-10 or this year with 6 from a possible 8 points, almost half our total. Not so much of a surprise with HKR who’s SL history has been sketchy but against FC who have always been big spenders it is.

Take Humberside out of the equation and we’d really struggle. I think it goes back to 2004 and our shock defeat of Hull in the play offs but since then Hull has always been a game we fancy winning even though we don’t by any means always manage it.

So to me Friday was no surprise and although we’re a relatively in form team on Friday I’d have fancied us regardless of that.

Truth is I’d give them both up to beat Cas twice a year but beggars can’t be choosers.

I can't speak for Hull KR but Wakefield have won one of the last six against Hull.

Hull's win ratio against Wakefield in the Super League era is in excess of 70%.

[Kirmonds pouch]

24 minutes ago, Ullman said:

I can't speak for Hull KR but Wakefield have won one of the last six against Hull.

Hull's win ratio against Wakefield in the Super League era is in excess of 70%.

No doubt but I’d say quite a lot of that percentage comes from our early years in SL where I don’t think we beat Hull or many other teams to be fair. Take it from 2004 onwards and I suspect its much closer to 50/50 but I can’t be bothered to find out.

However the main point is that Hull spend nearly double what we do, so wins should rare as hens teeth and they are not.

I always marl Hull down for at least two points a season, I tend not to do that with Saints.

 

[Ullman]

1 hour ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

No doubt but I’d say quite a lot of that percentage comes from our early years in SL where I don’t think we beat Hull or many other teams to be fair. Take it from 2004 onwards and I suspect its much closer to 50/50 but I can’t be bothered to find out.

However the main point is that Hull spend nearly double what we do, so wins should rare as hens teeth and they are not.

I always marl Hull down for at least two points a season, I tend not to do that with Saints.

 

Still over 70% if you take it from 2004. The gap has narrowed a little since then but it's still a fixture where Hull dominate, as recent seasons demonstrate.

[Old Frightful]

16 minutes ago, Ullman said:

Still over 70% if you take it from 2004. The gap has narrowed a little since then but it's still a fixture where Hull dominate, as recent seasons demonstrate.

No doubt due to Tom Johnstone's 5,000 tries against both Hull teams in recent years.

[Old Frightful]

On 18/09/2021 at 14:08, Ullman said:

Good post mate, as far as the youngsters are concerned we had one making his debut last night in Jacob Hookem who I think is going to be a regular in the first team for many years. The kid is going to be a star.

You may have already seen it but in case you ain't...

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/brett-hodgson-jacob-hookem-admission-5936004

[Ullman]

6 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

You may have already seen it but in case you ain't...

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/brett-hodgson-jacob-hookem-admission-5936004

“When a rookie is your best player on his debut, it says a lot about where we’re at." 

Couldn't agree more. Judging by the article it looks like he's going to get a lot more opportunities next year. I hope that's the case.