JOHN CARTWRIGHT was pleased to see Hull FC’s discipline improve even if it wasn’t quite enough to get them over the line against Leeds Rhinos on Friday.
Ryan Hall scored a dramatic try at the end to give Leeds an 18-16 win at AMT Headingley and condemn Hull to a fourth loss in succession.
The Black and Whites’ downturn in form has coincided with a spate of cards and the club are unwanted leaders this season in both dismissals (two) and sin bins (seven).
Those stats led captain Aidan Sezer to fire a warning to the group in the build-up to the Leeds game, saying: “We need to work on it.
“In most games we’re on the wrong end of the penalty count or were letting ourselves down with yellow cards and red cards.
“You can’t win games (like that) or be a consistent footy team when you’re letting yourselves down in that regard.
“Obviously there is a lot to improve in terms of our play, but being disciplined and giving ourselves a chance to win footy games is the most important thing.
“It’s frustrating and the older boys like me need to take some accountability for that.
“Going down to twelve or eleven in this competition, it’s so hard to get a result.”
Hull not only avoided any cards against the Rhinos, but came out on the right side of a 3-2 penalty count as well.
And Cartwright, who prepares his team for a trip to Leigh Leopards on Thursday, reflected: “The pleasing thing was the discipline.
“They held themselves together for the whole 80 minutes and that’s got to be the benchmark.”