For all of Hull FC’s poor form since winning at Wembley last month, there is one crumb of comfort which Scott Taylor is all too aware of when it comes to their chances of further success this year.
Yes, there have been slip-ups in the Super 8s. And yes, their league form undoubtedly dipped towards the back end of the regular season.
But in terms of knockout rugby in 2016, Hull remain the country’s only side yet to lose a game in do-or-die action: something Taylor is keen to point out in the build-up to Friday’s semi-final with Wigan.
“We’ve shown we can produce our best when it matters,” he told TotalRL.
“When we won at Wembley we knew we were 80 minutes away no matter what happened in the following four weeks, and whether we won them all or lost them all, we stood on the brink of something special.
“We’re here now, the semi-final has presented itself and I assure you this squad will give it everything they’ve got for glory.
“For how disappointing last weekend was, we’re still 80 minutes away from the Grand Final: those are the cold, hard facts. Anything can happen in this sport; we’ll go there as underdogs but we’ll take it. It’s going to be a real war of attrition.”
Friday night marks another high-profile game which pits Taylor against the side who he won the double with in 2013 – and knowing the Warriors how he does, he is expecting a stern test.
“I think they’ve got to be favourites, all the neutrals will have them down as so,” he said. “We’ll just worry about ourselves and not who’s favourites and who isn’t.
“Waney will have them firing. I know what they’ll be doing this week but we’ve stopped them before and we can stop them again.
“But there’s no luck about where we are. Come Friday night we’ll be ready for it.”
