Hull FC 31 Wigan Warriors 22: Character saw us through against Wigan says proud Brett Hodgson

The Black and Whites raced out of the blocks with three quick tries but had to wrestle control back from Wigan in the second half after the Warriors drew level, with a late Chris Satae try sealing it for the hosts.

“It was a win built on a lot of character,” Hodgson said.

“We were down to 14 men by the end of the game and there was a period in that second half where I thought they were coming back and we were able to turn that with a good try to Carlos (Tuimavave) in the corner, so I’m very pleased.

“I felt at half-time the score didn’t reflect how dominant we’d been in the first half but, to be fair to Wigan, they came here to play.

“They were very physical and threw a lot at us, which is difficult with one eye on next week, but I thought the boys responded well.”

Luke Gale and Adam Swift returned to the Hull side after being left out against St Helens and made a big impact on the game, the former Leeds Rhinos man pulling the strings in attack while the latter scored two first-half tries.

“He (Gale) and Josh Reynolds were good today and they gave Jake Connor the space out the back to do what he does. I thought both of them, along with Danny Houghton, contributed well,” Hodgson said.

“Adam was very disappointed to be left out last week and he, alongside Luke, responded really well and put the team first. He finished a couple of quality opportunities in the first half and did what he does today.

“Wigan are very difficult to score against, so the way we executed early on set the platform for us to play off, which was excellent.”

Wigan coach Matt Peet admitted his side’s start cost them dearly but was ultimately happy with the effort his players showed to fight for the full 80 minutes.

“They were dominant at the start and we were dominant in the middle, but in the end it didn’t go our way.”