St Helens 12 Hull FC 32: Long begins new phase by denying former club Saints

The 33-year-old is one of the grand old men of the competition and some observers suggested his move to Hull on a two-year deal after 13 trophy-laden seasons with St Helens signalled the end of his reign at the top of the sport.

But the colourful scrum-half produced a stunning man-of-the-match performance as he captained his new side to a

32-12 win at the home of his former employers and plans on giving opposition coaches nightmares for years to come.

"I've not missed a day of training since I've been at Hull, but obviously when the games start it's a little bit different and you hurt a little bit more," he said.

"But training has been going well and I'm still running around all right.

"There are some days when I wake up after a game and I'm knackered and it does take two or three days to get over it, but the game has changed so much that everyone looks after themselves a lot more.

"I predict that players are going to play for a lot longer now. I spoke to (Warrington captain) Adrian Morley about this and he's the same age as me.

"He told me he will play until his body tells him he's had enough, and so will I. Either that or the fans will tell me when to quit."

The match was almost postponed due to fog which forced the kick-off to be delayed 15 minutes with the mist hovering over the ground throughout the contest.

All the focus was on Hull's new captain Long, the former Great Britain scrum-half, who made an emotional return to the club he left in the close-season.

The 33-year-old turned down a 12-month contract at Saints to sign with Hull, who also handed Australians Mark O'Meley and Craig Fitzgibbon their debuts in the starting line-up.

Saints left out Jordan Turner, signed from Salford, with New Zealander Sia Soliola making his bow after his arrival from Sydney Roosters.

Nick Fozzard and Scott Moore were also back for Saints after returning from Hull KR and Huddersfield.

Hull came close to snatching a 12th-minute lead when Jordan Tansey just failed to gather Richard Horne's kick which bobbed over the line.

Saints suffered a blow when they lost Ade Gardner two minutes later with a rib injury and James Roby, a regular sub last season, made a sooner-than-expected appearance.

Long made his mark after 26 minutes when Willie Manu powered through Paul Wellens' tackle from his skipper's pass and Danny Tickle booted the goal.

Soliola hobbled off with an ankle injury after 36 minutes and worse followed for Saints when sub Epalahame Lauaki forced his way past Leon Pryce, with Tickle's conversion making it 12-0 at half-time.

Hull looked more dangerous before the break with the pack responding to Long's promptings.

Saints, with Francis Meli still Down Under, had major threequarter problems with Roby forced to play on the right wing.

Tickle's penalty, when Ewan Dowes was held down, stretched the lead to 14-0.

Long's moment of glory came after Tickle, Tansey and Horne combined for their new recruit to sweep over for a sizzling try.

Tickle converted to make it 20-0 with Lauaki's marauding runs causing continual problems for Saints.

Tom Briscoe's breakaway try extended the lead with Fitzgibbon tagging on the conversion.

The impressive Tansey was sin-binned before video referee Steve Ganson awarded Matt Gidley a consolation try for Saints with Eastmond adding the touchline goal.

Chris Flannery bagged a second Saints try 10 minutes from time but Hull had the final say with Kirk Yeaman latching onto Long's kick.

Even when Long does hang up his boots, he is still planning to make his unmistakable mark on the game from the stands as a coach.

"I've done my coaching badges," he said.

"Kieron Cunningham and I did them together last year. It is something I'd like to go into when I finish playing but I've got a couple of years left in me, maybe three.

"That's the next progression for me. I'd like to work under a good coach and be an assistant or coach the Under-21s or something, and then go from there."

St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Soliola, Wheeler, Pryce, Eastmond, Graham, Cunningham, Fozzard, Puletua, Flannery, Wilkin. Replacements: Roby, Moore, Clough, Fa'asavalu.

Hull: Tansey, Hall, Whiting, Yeaman, T. Briscoe, Horne, Long, O'Meley, Berrigan, Radford, Manu, Tickle, Fitzgibbon. Subsitutes: Dowes, Lauaki, Cusack, Houghton.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).