Brett Hodgson has reviewed his side’s 26-18 defeat to Wakefield Trinity on Friday evening.
A disappointing summer has seen Hull win one of their last five games, with a squad decimated by injuries seeing eleven players sat on the sidelines last night as the Black & Whites went down to the West Yorkshire outfit.
A late pair of tries from the Airlie Birds wasn’t enough, with the visitors effectively securing their Super League status for next season with the win.
Speaking after the game, Hodgson confirmed season-ending injuries for two more of his players.
“We’ve got zero luck, and that showed again today – Manu Ma’u suffered a broken arm, and Joe Lovodua has picked up a knee injury.
“Two head knocks too meant we had to change things.”
On the performance from his side, he said: “There was some pride in the performance, but we lacked the quality we needed. There is an element of trying too hard at times I think.
“There were two tries from Wakefield where I feel that if the momentum is with us, the decision would have gone our way instead of against us. But that’s just the hole we’re in at the moment and we need to dig ourselves out.
“We weren’t able to build enough pressure to put some fatigue into them. But that’s what happens when you’re where we are at the moment. Effort is there, but not the quality we require.”
“Fatigue also comes into account when you’re doing so much defending. We saw what we can do at the end of the game with a couple of tries when you have the ball.”
He continued: “Finding that quality we need is tough at the moment when you look at the players we have missing. We’re up to squad number 41 for this season now with us naming Kye Armstrong in our 21-man squad this week.
“Ben McNamara has come off sixteen weeks of not playing, Harvey Barron is playing only his second senior game, Davy Litten on debut, and both Ligi Sao and Manu Ma’u both coming off spells on the sidelines.”
And Hodgson explained that while the club is hurting from the recent spell of poor form, the building blocks for an improved campaign in 2023 are being put in place.
“We’re all hurting right now – I know the supporters are especially. That is felt by myself, Adam and James too, and we’re trying to put things right with our recruitment and structures we are putting in place for next season.
“Obviously we want to win games, it would be ridiculous to suggest otherwise, but sometimes there is some difficult moments before you start moving forward, and that’s where we are at at the moment.”
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