Lee Radford revealed he had “hammered” Jake Connor for his lack of involvement in Hull’s recent performances before his stunning display against Castleford.
Connor was one of the stars as he set up three tries for the Black and Whites in their victory over the Tigers, a win that moved them into third.
It was a mesmeric display by the England international, but the Hull chief admitted he had criticised Connor for his recent form.
“I’ve hammered him, personally, the last month about his involvements,” Radford said.
“Last week he played and his involvements were huge and really significant for us, but they were minimal. We challenged him as a staff to try and put some more digits on them.
“He’s gone out of his way, you could see the energy in his kick chase and his back to back efforts. He’s got that magic in good ball. When he pieces both of them together, he’s a talented boy.”
Connor continued in his role at centre, despite making no secret of his desire to play in the halves.
But Radford said: “I think if Jake plays half he’s not happy anyway. He could win a lottery and still be unhappy. We’ve come to accept that with Jake and we have a little understanding with how that works.”
