Josh Griffin has reflected on the Black & Whites’ opening round victory, explaining his side still have plenty to work on in the opening rounds of the season.
Tony Smith’s men flew into a healthy twenty point lead on Sunday afternoon, but the Tigers fought back in the second-half to reduce the deficit to just two points by the time the full-time hooter sounded.
Speaking in his post-match interview, Griffin said: “It was closer than we ideally wanted it but it was good to get the first win of the season in the first game in front of a big home crowd – we’ve still got a lot to improve but our attack in the first half was very good.
“Our defence let us down the whole game, even in the first half, we got a big score-line but we weren’t defending great. Second half our attack dropped off a little bit and our defence stayed the same. It didn’t get any better and Cas grew into the game and got that scoreline closer.
“There are few things to work on, our ruck speed and our contact. But Cas are a good team, they’re going to be up there so we’re not writing off the win – we’ve just got some things to fix up before we go to Leeds on Friday.”
Griffin picked out two of Hull’s new recruits who impressed in particular in front of the 15,000 crowd.
“I think Tex and Cliff showed their class – you can tell they are experienced with each other and they’ve played with each other for a long time. They looked really good. It’s just defence that has made that result what it is. Thankfully, we were as good as we were in that first forty minutes. Everybody ripped in when they needed to.
On his own personal performance, having captained the side in Carlos Tuimavave’s absence, and featured in his new favoured position of back-row, he added: “I thoroughly enjoyed it – It’s a position that I’ve tried to play for a few seasons now. The big thing for me is that I stay in the game. I don’t get time to drift in and out.
“I’ve trained all pre-season injury free and my confidence is up. Tony has allowed me to express myself in that back row.
“I’ve still got a bit of learning to do. It’s a different ball game in there but I feel I’ve taken a bif step in cementing that left-edge spot for now. I just want to keep building on that and hopefully, I get the nod again on Friday. I’m just after a chance in there and hopefully, I can take it with both hands.”
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