The Black & Whites fell to defeat in their opening home game of the 2022 Betfred Super League season, going down 38-6 to reigning Betfred Super League champions St Helens at the MKM Stadium.
A dominant performance from the visitors saw them take a 20-0 lead into the half-time break, and there was no looking back in the second-half, with Hull’s only score coming through Josh Griffin.
However, the afternoon will be remembered for the poignant pre-match tributes to Johnny Whiteley MBE, as the club, it’s supporters, and the Rugby League community came together to remember Hull’s greatest player of all-time.
Team News
Brett Hodgson made three changes to the side who defeated Wakefield last weekend, with Jamie Shaul, Josh Griffin and Mitieli Vulikijapani coming into the side.
They replaced suspended duo Jake Connor and Andre Savelio, as well as Aidan Burrell.
The Match
After some early chances for the Black & Whites, it was the visitors who opened the scoring on the ten minute mark as a quick move to the left edge saw Mark Percival dart through the line to score. Makinson converted.
The quarter hour mark saw Connnor Wynne sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle, with Makinson adding a further penalty goal just minutes later. Saints thought they had their second try through Josh Simm who slid over in the corner, but the play was brought back for a forward pass.
Saints made their advantage count further when Simm got his try, a replica of the one he had chalked off minutes earlier, just without the forward pass. Makinson added the goal.
Matters went from bad to worse for Hull when Luke Gale was shown a red card by Chris Kendall for a late challenge on Jonny Lomax.
A second try before the break from Josh Simm saw Hull have it all to do after the restart.
Half-Time: Hull FC 0-20 St Helens
St Helens extended their lead after the break courtesy of Jack Welsby, who chased his own grubber into the in-goal area to beat Jamie Shaul to the ball and score.
Hull did hit back through through Josh Griffin, who judged the bounce of the ball perfectly from a high Josh Reynolds bomb, to catch and score in front of the South Stand end. McIntosh converted.
However, Hull’s joy didn’t last long as Sione Mata’utia crashed over for Saints’ fifth try of the afternoon.
Lewis Dodd scored Saints’ seventh as he slipped through the Hull line from 20 metres out and had the pace to touch down.
Full-Time: Hull FC 6-38 St Helens
Teams:
Hull FC: Jamie Shaul, Darnell McIntosh, Cameron Scott, Connor Wynne, Adam Swift, Josh Reynolds, Luke Gale, Brad Fash, Danny Houghton, Ligi Sao, Josh Griffin, Jordan Lane, Jordan Johnstone.
Interchange: Chris Satae, Joe Lovodua, Jack Brown, Mitieli Vulikijapani.
St Helens: Jack Welsby, Josh Simm, Konrad Hurrell, Mark Percival, Tommy Makinson, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Alex Walmsley, James Roby, Matty Lees, Sione Mata’utia. Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles.
Interchange: Joey Lussick, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Curtis Sironen, Agnatius Paasi.
Scorers:
Hull FC Tries: Griffin (57)
Hull FC Goals: McIntosh (1/1)
St Helens Tries: Percival (10), Simm (20, 38), Welsby (50), Mata’utia (63), Dodd (68)
St Helens Goals: Makinson (7/7)
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