Tony Smith insists there is still plenty for his Hull FC side to work on after the Black & Whites saw out a nail-biting 32-30 victory over Castleford Tigers yesterday afternoon.
Hull dominated for match for the best part of an hour, but a ruthless, late surge from the visitors set up a nerve-wracking end to the game.
Whilst Smith said there is still plenty to work on, he was full of admiration for the way his side scrambled in defence at times yesterday.
“There’s just some stuff that we need to fix up that aren’t quite habits for us yet,” he told the media in his post-match press conference.
“We haven’t gotten through the process of putting into practice under pressure. What I will say is the scrambling defence at times was unbelievable.
“Of course, I would like us not to put ourselves in that position, but the desire to get there and the desire to push back when breaks were made was outstanding.
“We’ve got to stop those breaks from happening in the first place. We need to bend our back when we’re in defence. We were too grabby and too many tackles were up high. The offloads, that’s what was hurting us.”
The Black & Whites played in front of over 15,000 fans yesterday, one of Hull’s highest-ever non-Derby fixtures at the MKM Stadium.
Although supporters endured a tense final quarter, they were treated to some entertaining rugby league, especially in the first-half, when Hull ran in five quality tries.
But Smith is confident that his side can continue their trend of improving week on week.
“I said earlier in the week and leading up to this that we were a bit under-done and we are,” Smith said.
“We’ll get better as the year goes on. We need to. I’m also very excited about what we are capable of when we fix up some of those things and when we get fitter.
“I’m excited about how we can play and how smart we can be. I thought there were some exceptional plays out there today, both skill-wise but also smarts.”
STORY SPONSOR
