Warrington double leaves Ellis confident over Hull future

They won Friday’s top-of-the-table clash 19-12 at Halliwell Jones Stadium to extend their lead over fourth-placed Warrington to four points.

However, it was hard to watch with both sides enduring bizarre ball control issues during an 80 minutes which saw an astonishing 35 handling mistakes.

Asked if he had ever played in a game with so many such errors, Ellis admitted: “I don’t think I have, to be honest.

“It was borderline comical at times. It was to the point where we went into half-time expecting a bit of a roasting.

“But I think Rads (Lee Radford) was actually quite happy us being 12-10 up given the way we played.

“Warrington probably had the same problems, though, and it was dewy and really greasy out there, tough conditions for handling the ball.”

Considering the difficulties they had, it proved a hard-earned two points for Hull who have now won eight successive games.

Defensively they were superb under a barrage of pressure at times and Ellis admitted: “I suppose that is the pleasing thing – we’ve come here and done the double over a Warrington side who are flying high and competing with us for that top of the table.

“So, to arrive here and get that win is really pleasing.

“The manner of win sometimes isn’t what’s most important but the effort the lads showed when making those errors is a pleasing aspect that will come out of it.”

The 35-year-old – so dominant in both attack and defence yet again – was one of the few Hull players not to make any handling mistakes amid all the chaos, showing just why he is being touted as a potential Man of Steel.

Indeed, it was the former England second-row who plundered over in the 65th minute for the decisive try when the game had been locked at 12-12.

“It’s always pleasing to get over for a try and there was probably quite a lot of relief for the rest of the team at the point we got it,” continued Ellis, who operated at loose forward on the night.

“Then Marc Sneyd just made it comfortable in making sure with the drop goal as well.

“There was some top efforts out there on the back of a lot of errors from both teams.

“It was probably disappointing from the spectator point of view – to see a big game played like that, played in that manner – but it’s just the way it goes sometimes,” he added.

Hull will look to continue their winning sequence at Ellis’s hometown club Castleford on Sunday.

“It will be a tough game,” he said, as the Tigers look to win on home soil for the first time in five outings.

“It’s one of the family favourites when I go back to paying Cas and another big match.

“But we built this (Warrington) up and at the end of day it was just two points just as it was last week against Widnes.

“It will be the same next week at Castleford.”