HULL FC head coach Tony Smith was evidently disappointed as his Black and Whites side suffered their seventh loss in a row.
The Black and Whites went down 34-10 away at Leeds Rhinos, with Smith hurting at the result.
“I’m disappointed. It was a game where we had more field position and territory than previous games we’ve been struggling in,” Smith said.
“It still comes down to converting those periods of game into points, the lack of converting that and putting pressure on our opponents and allowing them to go down the other end and succumb to very little pressure.
“That was disappointing and we are learning lessons the hard way and it’s tough for the supporters and those involved.”
Smith reflected on the makeshift halfback partnership and why one side was seemingly stronger.
“I can see effort in there but some of it isn’t effective enough. We had one half that was more dominant than the other half which is sometimes what you get when you have a makeshift half but that’s not putting the blame on Joey as we had no alternative.
“Benny is probably one of the two the player who calls the shots a little more than a guy who is filling in at halfback.”
Smith did have positives to take out of the defeat.
“There are always things to take on, but I thought Chris Satae was fantastic for us, his performance was enormous.
“I thought at the back end we actually put on some play and combinations. I liked some of our defence early on before we conceded points. We forced Leeds into a lot of errors which was a real positive in the game.
“We are all trying really hard at the moment, it’s not easy being a good Super League team because you are up against all these other good teams each week.
“There is pain there, everyone is genuinely trying really.”
The Hull boss also explained why Andre Savelio didn’t play and gave an update on Jake Clifford and Tex Hoy.
“Andre is not 100% with his hand. He had some X-rays on his hand to see if there was damage to the one, he’s had some swelling in it.
“Part of it is injury and part of it his form not being good enough. If he had been fit he would have played reserves game to get into form.
“Jake’s scan is clear, he ran pretty well and he has a chance for the next game as is Tex if he has a good week training.”
