HULL FC head coach John Cartwright reckons “marvel” Zak Hardaker delivered his best display for the Black and Whites, as the player starred at fullback against St Helens.
Hardaker was the pick of the FC players as they gave a performance which contained plenty of effort on the way to a 13-6 home defeat against Paul Wellens’ men.
Cartwright said: “I didn’t know a lot about Zak when I got here. I’d watched him in bits and pieces and I’d read about things that he’d done but he’s an absolute marvel. He amazes me every week. Wherever you put him, it’s not a problem.
“I said ‘what are your thoughts about playing full back?’ and he said ‘no worries mate, wherever you need me.’ I said ‘would you play front row?’ and he said ‘yeah, yeah, wherever you want to put me’.
“They are gold, them blokes. It’s not only wanting to do it, he does a great job wherever he goes, he’s a natural.
“He doesn’t say a lot but when he does talk everyone listens. He leads by example. This was probably the best game I’ve seen him play for us and he’s had some really good games for us. He was in their face the whole game. Defensively, he saved tries. He made tackles up in the defensive line.
“To go back to fullback and play the full 80 minutes, he was desperate. I don’t know how many metres he covered but it must be some kind of record! And he was dangerous. He’s certainly one guy who I’d love to have played with. They’re the guys you remember.”
Discussing another defeat on home soil – where they have not won for a year – the FC coach said: “I think a few players are lacking a bit of confidence. But this is where they get it.
“It’s a tough game and you’ve got to get tough with it. You’ve got to confront those things. As soon as the ball is available, get that ball under your wing and charge into them and show that you’ve got no fear about it. Maybe there was a little bit of hesitation there on the back of errors.”
Asked about whether the lack of a home win over a long period is affecting the players, Cartwright said: “If we use that as an excuse, that’s all it is – an excuse. I saw some really tough efforts and that’s where we need to be.
“Next game is another game and if we don’t turn up with that same effort in the really tough situations you don’t win footy games.
“I know what they’re capable of. The tough thing to get right is to get blokes to keep trying when things aren’t going your way, and they are doing that for us in spades.”