Sun 24 Apr: SL: Hull FC v Catalans Dragons KO 18:45 (Sky)

[Industria ditat]

Good finish but soft defence

[JohnM]

18 minutes ago, JohnM said:

At the moment, I can't see Catalans scoring any more points. Hull much better organised than Cats.

The curse strikes again!

[MZH]

That pass wasn't even remotely close to being forward.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

Jake Connor is having a shocker of a 2nd half, he’s single handed letting Catalans back into the game, has he got money on them to win, can’t believe some people say the guy should play for England. 

[Padge]

1 minute ago, MZH said:

That pass wasn't even remotely close to being forward.

You are joking

[JohnM]

.

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by JohnM

[Padge]

Big win for Hull that.

 

[JohnM]

1 minute ago, Padge said:

Big win for Hull that.

 

And well deserved. Cats of old without Sam.

[Hvy wg]

Pearce was much better than usual, Napa as useless as a rubber for the pope. 

 

[MZH]

5 minutes ago, Padge said:

You are joking

It just didn't look forward at all. Clearly backwards out of his hands. Anyway it's irrelevant now. Things still aren't quite clicking but as with the Warrington game we played with excellent effort and intensity. A really important win.

[Padge]

2 minutes ago, MZH said:

It just didn't look forward at all. Clearly backwards out of his hands. Anyway it's irrelevant now. Things still aren't quite clicking but as with the Warrington game we played with excellent effort and intensity. A really important win.

If it didn't look forward at all the ref would never have given it

[Man of Kent]

That was quite impressive. Hodgson seems to have motivated a Hull FC side to work for each other consistently - no mean feat. 

[Angelic Upstart]

Have I missed something here? Thought that was a carp game. Surprised no ones mentioned Josh Reynolds deliberately standing one one of the Catalans players hand in the first half.

[MZH]

17 minutes ago, Angelic Upstart said:

Have I missed something here? Thought that was a carp game. Surprised no ones mentioned Josh Reynolds deliberately standing one one of the Catalans players hand in the first half.

Considering the week after Easter usually brings about some of the worst games of the season I thought both teams should be applauded for the intensity they played at.

I didn't notice it, but it definitely sounds like something he would do.

[Angelic Upstart]

Yeah I understand that, it's how the Sky pundits were saying how good it was. I know they're not gonna slag it off but Jeez it really wasn't that good. I also thought Tuimavave was easily the best player on the field. I know it's all opinions.

[StandOffHalf]

Good intensity, especially from the Hull big men.

I started to yawn though as the second half went on. Catalans shorn of Drinkwater just didn't look to have any cohesion in attack. I felt they got bullied out of the game and struggled to get into Hull's half.

The Connor pass was backwards out of the hand and was a bad call. I actually thought Connor, despite the errors and petulance at half-time and when tackled in-goal, actually had some nice passes and flashes of inventive, deceptive quality in attack.

Hull will be happy with their night's work.

I wonder why Jenna Brooks is sitting in for Brian Carney in the presentation chair. Definitely a pretty face, although her Aussie twang is a bit forceful on the ear.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

I think Sky's coverage of the GAA provincial championships has started this weekend; I know I set some Leinster and Munster championships hurling to record (but haven't had time to see it yet)  So, I imagine Brian Carney may be fronting that.

[Dunbar]

That's a pretty good win for FC.  Catalans were short of creativity being down on personnel but the effort and intensity from Hull was commendable. 

At for Catalans, they have made it tough for themselves this year playing win just 16 every week... well 17 the weeks that Napa is suspended at least. 

[StandOffHalf]

4 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

I think Sky's coverage of the GAA provincial championships has started this weekend; I know I set some Leinster and Munster championships hurling to record (but haven't had time to see it yet)  So, I imagine Brian Carney may be fronting that.

Stands to reason. Must be a busy fella.

Hope they keep Jenna for some games, even when he's back. She can be a bit stiff, but the accent and the feminine dazzle adds a slightly different flavour to the coverage. I've actually watched the entirety of the coverage of these last two Sky games and quite enjoyed her and the lads going over things in the studio.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Very solid performance by Hull. Happy indeed. Very few errors until the back end of the game, where Jake Connor couldn't seem to do anything right for a few minutes! It was never a forward pass, like!

Special praise for our 2 Fijians, who we brought in for depth but have really shone recently. Wasn't sure about Vulikijapani last year, but he's coming into his own now! Lovodua has been amazing every game.

[MZH]

11 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Very solid performance by Hull. Happy indeed. Very few errors until the back end of the game, where Jake Connor couldn't seem to do anything right for a few minutes! It was never a forward pass, like!

Special praise for our 2 Fijians, who we brought in for depth but have really shone recently. Wasn't sure about Vulikijapani last year, but he's coming into his own now! Lovodua has been amazing every game.

Vulikijapani has turned out to be another gem. I remember in his first couple of games everyone saying well he's no Ratu. He might not have Ratu's blinding speed but I think he's probably the better all round player. Some of his reads in defence are excellent for a guy who hadn't really played RL up until a couple of years ago.

Lovodua is one of the signings of the season. He just seems to be everywhere. I'm not totally sure what his best position is long term, but right now he's our best half back. Reynolds looked miles better last night too and I'm not sure if that's just because he had a point to prove or if the team balance suited him better (probably a bit of both, our organisation looked much better across the park). When Gale's ban is over I hope Hodgson has the bottle to leave him out.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

1 hour ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Very solid performance by Hull. Happy indeed. Very few errors until the back end of the game, where Jake Connor couldn't seem to do anything right for a few minutes! It was never a forward pass, like!

Special praise for our 2 Fijians, who we brought in for depth but have really shone recently. Wasn't sure about Vulikijapani last year, but he's coming into his own now! Lovodua has been amazing every game.

This is a very good summary, Wellsy.  I agree.

It can be added that, on the whole, my team were pretty solid defensively, too, as two tries apiece implies.  It made for a steady, but not spectacular game; 'workman-like' is the sort of description that comes to mind.

A key difference, as the Sky commentators noted, was the quality of the last tackle kicks.  Why Pearce consistently kicked so far down field that Connor et al could gather in complete safety and comfort was beyond me.  By contrast, FC never let Mourgue catch in comfort with open space in front of him, when he would have been at his most dangerous.

[Old Frightful]

13 hours ago, Padge said:

Is there a local lockdown in Hull that stadium sounds echoey.

Plagiarism at it's finest!

At times it was rather quiet I'll give you that, only 9,100 ish so perhaps not the best crowd.

Pleased with the result, we needed it and it was good to see the players working hard for it. I thought Carlos Tuimavave was the best player on the field by some distance, seems back to his best after a spell out injured. First time I've ever seen Connor drop a ball like that as far as I can recall, though I still can't quite work out how he doesn't more often tbh, can't be an easy skill that.

Second game in a row that we've been reffed by James Child and had a mysterious decision go against us, the derby knock on that turned the game and last night's forward pass that thankfully didn't cost us. When you see some passes that are allowed, how the Connor one was given I have no idea. I suppose two in two games ain't bad though and we got the benefit of a dubious VR call at Headingley and the Ma'u try awarded v Wire that could have gone either way. Hopefully, some kind of evidence that these things do even themselves out over time.

We're hosting the other French team next Saturday, not quite sure how we've managed to get three home games on the bounce but we clearly need the money so that's good then...

[MZH]

2 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

This is a very good summary, Wellsy.  I agree.

It can be added that, on the whole, my team were pretty solid defensively, too, as two tries apiece implies.  It made for a steady, but not spectacular game; 'workman-like' is the sort of description that comes to mind.

A key difference, as the Sky commentators noted, was the quality of the last tackle kicks.  Why Pearce consistently kicked so far down field that Connor et al could gather in complete safety and comfort was beyond me.  By contrast, FC never let Mourgue catch in comfort with open space in front of him, when he would have been at his most dangerous.

I thought we asked a lot of questions and actually used the ball pretty well, it's a credit to Catalans' defence that they were able to withstand everything and stay in the game. Hull would have won by 20+ playing like that against a lesser team, but Catalans really made us work hard for it.

[ATLANTISMAN]

Arrived back home in Kent an hour ago really enjoyed the match well done Hull FC they wanted it more.

Napa was a complete waste of space.

 

Paul