Tony Smith could have been forgiven if he was left with a familiar feeling as Hull FC crashed out of the Betfred Challenge Cup away to Huddersfield Giants last Saturday afternoon.
The 50-6 defeat at the John Smith’s Stadium marked the second game in a row the Black and Whites had conceded a half-century of points and mirrored the dismal form they had shown during the first five games of the 2024 Betfred Super League season.
It does not get any easier for the return to league action which comes against bitter cross-city rivals Hull KR, having already lost 22-0 at home to them in the opening game of the season, on Good Friday and Hull FC head coach Smith acknowledged his team’s failings so far this year.
“We need to toughen up across the board, we need to make sure we are doing our own jobs and doing them really well,” Smith said in his post-match press conference at Huddersfield. “That’s taking responsibility for it, and we have got to do that.
“We know it’s not good enough, we need to get more determined and if that means we are not strong enough in a lot of facets in the game, physically and mentally, then so be it.
“We will need to dust ourselves and learn quickly. They are playing well and playing confidently, and we are at the other end of the realm at the moment.”
The contrast between the clubs from the east and the west of Kingston Upon Hull could hardly be more stark. Whereas FC remain mired in the bottom half of the table, finishing the 2023 season in 10th, KR are once again among the play-off contenders after reaching the semi-finals last year.
The Robins are scoring nearly double the number of tries per game as the Black and Whites and have an average points per game margin of plus-seven points per game on their opponents so far compared to minus-21 for Smith’s side.
The PythagoPat expected wins measurement suggests Hull KR have been playing slightly better than results have shown in their first five Super League matches as well, calculating their expected record so far would be four wins and one loss as opposed to their actual record of three wins and two defeats.
Avenging one of those early-season losses with a 40-0 demolition of Salford Red Devils in their Challenge Cup sixth-round tie last Friday ensured the promising start for last season’s Wembley runners-up continued, but head coach Willie Peters is not allowing anyone to pat themselves on the back ahead of Friday’s derby.
“It’s all part of your growth,” Peter said after the win over the Red Devils. “For us now, we can either give ourselves pats on the back, there’s going to be some really happy fans which is great because that’s all part of our focus.
Willie Peters celebrates Hull KR’s win over Hull FC in the opening game of the season
“But we can either listen to the fans and that makes you feel good, then you come into work on Monday still feeling good and then you’re at Wednesday and you’re playing in two days and you lose that focus and mental side of where we want to be as a team.
“I’d like to think we’re getting there where we won’t be doing that but there’s no doubt that you can fall into that – is weak mindset the right word? That complacent mindset, and that’s the challenge for us now.”
Hull FC’s only win so far in 2024 came in a 26-24 win at home to promoted London Broncos in Round 3 of the Super League season, although their struggles so far can be mitigated by the injuries and suspensions which have decimated the squad in February and March.
The Black and Whites were without nine players due to injury for the Challenge Cup defeat away to Huddersfield, but should at least have off-season recruit Franklin Pele, who was sent off in the first derby meeting of the year, and Jack Ashworth back from suspension for Friday.
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Tempers boiled over during the opening game of the 2024 Betfred Super League season between Hull FC and Hull KR.
Smith, who spent just over two years in charge of Hull KR and crossed the city’s rugby league divide ahead of last season, knows his side are underdogs for the clash at Sewell Group Craven Park and hopes they can embrace that mentality for what would be the perfect game to get back to winning ways in.
“That’s sometimes where you see spirit, determination and people dig in,” Smith said. “Sometimes being written off can be a good thing.
“I know there will be a lot of people writing us off this week and probably rightfully so after those two performances.
“We’ll see what we can do about it, but when you get it right and you turn things around, it’s quite sweet. We’ve got a bit of work to do before we get to that stage.”
Watch every match of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, including Rivals Round, Magic Weekend, the play-offs, and men’s, women’s and wheelchair Grand Finals, live on Sky Sports. Also stream with NOW.