Video: Fatherhood makes Hull FC's Griffin a better player

HULL FC centre Josh Griffin says fatherhood has helped improve his game in 2018.
Hull FC's Josh GriffinHull FC's Josh Griffin
Hull FC's Josh Griffin

The ex-Huddersfield Giants player was the club’s top performer during their 24-10 defeat against Wigan Warriors at Wollongong, producing a series of classy breaks on Saturday.

Having joined from Salford Red Devils ahead of 2017, Griffin showed glimpses of his quality last term without ever nailing down a regular spot.

But he said: “I’ve always had it in me.

Hull FC's Josh GriffinHull FC's Josh Griffin
Hull FC's Josh Griffin

“I’m getting back to where I used to be now.

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“Last year I did struggle for form. This time I’ve just settled down in pre-season, I’ve lost a few kilos which has been big for me and my off-field life is better.

“(As a dad) you see life differently now and from a different perspective.

“I’ve been missing him this week but hopefully he’s been at home watching even if he doesn’t know what’s going on.

Hull FC's Josh GriffinHull FC's Josh Griffin
Hull FC's Josh Griffin

“Obviously I’m back playing at left centre role, too, which is my favourite side.

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“Carlos (Tuimavave) is coming back soon but hopefully I’ve done enough to keep in that side.”

Griffin, 27, is now looking forward to facing NRL club St George-Illawarra at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

“We’ve trained well this week and went up against the Roosters in training the other day facing the likes of Cooper Cronk,” he said.

“We looked really sharp, to be fair, and now want to put that into practice against St George-Illawarra.

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“We’ll be up against some world-class players like James Graham and Gareth Widdop but we’re looking forward to rising to that challenge.

“It’s a massive game. We wanted the win against Wigan - that was the most important - but going into this weekend it’s now Super League versus NRL.

“We’ve probably let ourselves down a little bit last week. We didn’t do ourselves justice. We’re a better team than that.”

He admitted injuries to key players hampered Hull’s hopes of securing a win in the first-ever Super League game played in the southern hemisphere.

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They lost winger Bureta Faraimo after just two minutes against Wigan and captain Danny Houghton with a calf injury before the break.

“It’s long way to come to lose,” said the ex-Leeds Carnegie three-quarter, after Wigan exposed Hull’s reshuffled right edge.

“Wigan obviously wanted it a bit more than us.

“We did do it tough losing our skip’ and Bureta, one of our big ball-carriers out of backfield early on meant it was always going to be a tough game.

“But Wigan are good on their left side and when you throw a second-row in at centre and centre on the wing it’s always going to mess up the system.”

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Around 3,000 Hull fans attended the historic fixture in Wollongong and Griffin admitted: “They were outstanding and credit to them.

“They’ve come halfway around the world and they’re there in their numbers like that.

“They’re a credit to the club. There was probably more fans there than you’d get at some away games back home so it’s massive for us players and we do feel we let them down a little bit.”

Meanwhile, Griffin was yellow-carded with Sam Tomkins in the final stages after an altercation with the England international.

Asked what it was about, he said: “He just talks garbage all the time.”

Dave Craven is on tour with Hull FC in Australia in association with Ladbrokes.com