Mental fragility again to the fore as Hull FC exit Challenge Cup

Admittedly, the old issue reared its ugly head again when a Black and Whites side – capable of so much – delivered so little on Saturday, tumbling out of the Challenge Cup with such a meek display against Wigan Warriors.

It remains to be seen whether interim head coach Last, Radford’s trusted assistant, will gain the job on a full-time basis in readiness for 2021.

Returning to Wembley and lifting the trophy he helped secure in both 2016 and again 12 months later would have aided his application no end.

Due to the Cup’s truncated nature this term, it would have needed just three performances but, with this supine and mistake-ridden display, they fell at the very first hurdle.

If Last is to succeed in securing his dream role, he must now hope to prove his worth in Super League.

In a campaign reduced from 27 rounds to just 20, they have some work to do to reach the top-four given they have already lost six of their 11 fixtures.

It means Thursday’s game against Salford Red Devils already takes on great significance.

Last will bolster his squad with some fresh legs, hopefully including the 39-year-old Gareth Ellis, whose vast experience, leadership and sheer cussedness were characteristics they badly missed when eviscerated by Wigan.

However, Last’s post-match remarks that he feels his side were in “awe” of Wigan struck a chord, too.

It is a startling admission to make about your side but an honesty which may eventually reap rewards. Last said: “We just didn’t give a good account of ourselves and it’s a shame to see but it feels like this group of players lack that belief when they’re going against top-four teams.

“When we played Warrington it felt like we waited to see which Warrington team turned up before we applied ourselves, which was the same today. It felt as though we were in awe of them.

“That first 20 minutes came and went and we were 16-0 down.

“We need to go impose ourselves on the game and play our way. We didn’t do that and it’s been evident against Warrington and Wigan.”

There is some substance to Last’s theory; since beating Wigan in the 2017 Challenge Cup final – their last major trophy – if you take Wigan, Warrington, Leeds and St Helens as the ‘top-four’. Hull have won just seven of the following 30 meetings with the elite sides.

One could argue that simply means they are not good enough but anyone who saw some of those victories, not least the success against Leeds in February, would say otherwise.

Likewise, for all those Hull fans this morning bemoaning the chastening experience of witnessing their side once more so comfortably cast aside – on the BBC, of course, not yet in person – it should serve as some comfort that Last has at least identified an issue and one that, in theory, could be remedied.

If it is something between the ears, a lack of confidence and belief, that can be addressed.

Granted, Last needs to get to the bottom of it quickly to try and ascertain why a squad boasting such quality should be so uncertain about themselves. Wigan, who were missing plenty of regulars like Hull, clearly did not lack certainty; they were sharp, direct and cutting as they set up a semi-final against Leeds Rhinos at the start of next month.

But if Last can get to the root of the problem – those ‘rocks and diamonds’ tendencies – he will go a long way to showing why he should be in charge of his hometown team.

He has nine fixtures, at least, to make his mark and, with no Cup commitments, the hectic workload is reduced.

On Saturday, given the amount of fundamental errors they made, it was inevitable Wigan would take control.

Adrian Lam’s side were 26-0 ahead by half-time courtesy of tries from the electric Bevan French (2), Liam Farrell, Sam Powell – in his 200th game for the club – and Joe Burgess.

Teenage full-back Connor Wynne had an afternoon to forget. Even at just 19, ordinarily, the tame downfield kick he fumbled he would have claimed 99 times out of 100.

To work out the likelihood, then, of making a mess of the same sort of bouncing kick a second time before half-time, is even more perplexing than trying to get your head around Hull’s erratic form.

The mistakes led to Wigan imposing themselves but, to his credit, Wynne recovered well and all Hull’s more experienced players, from Carlos Tuimavave to Marc Sneyd, Jake Connor to Danny Houghton, were guilty of glaring errors themselves.

Wigan rolled out their 37-year-old England captain Sean O’Loughlin for the first time since February and he was immense.

Hull, who scored a late consolation via Mahe Fonua after Farrell and Oliver Gildart had crossed, needed Ellis’s similar steadying influence.

But it points to those underlying issues that they are still so reliant on a player who is almost 40.

Hull FC: Wynne; Fonua, Tuimavave, Griffin, Faraimo; Connor, Sneyd; Matongo, Johnstone, Fash, Ma’u, Lane, Cator. Substitutes: Houghton, Brown, Sao, Satae.

Wigan Warriors: French; Manfredi, Hardaker, Gildart, J Burgess; Leuluai, Hastings; Harvard, Powell, Partington, Isa, Farrell,O’Loughlin. Substitutes: Clark, Greenwood, Shorrocks, Smith.

Referee: R Hicks (Oldham).

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today.

Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers.

So, please - if you can - pay for our work. Just £5 per month is the starting point. If you think that which we are trying to achieve is worth more, you can pay us what you think we are worth. By doing so, you will be investing in something that is becoming increasingly rare. Independent journalism that cares less about right and left and more about right and wrong. Journalism you can trust.

Thank you

James Mitchinson

Editor