Tony Smith has reflected on his side’s last-gasp victory over London Broncos.
The Black & Whites earned their first two-points of the season thanks to Morgan Smith’s last-minute try at the MKM Stadium – after a tough battle against the newly-promoted side, Hull claimed a 28-24 win.
Nick Staveley, Matty Russell, and Fa’amanu Brown all claimed their first scores for the club alongside Smith, while Lewis Martin scored a spectacular length of the field effort for his first try on home soil.
Speaking on the winning moment in his post-match press conference, Smith said: “Good on Morgan for doing that. He’s a goer. He likes to run the ball. I thought he did some good things throughout the game, organising the team at different stages. I’m pleased for him.
“He’s been on the cusp of being a regular first-grader in the past, and he probably hasn’t established himself as much as I think he is capable of. Hopefully, he’s found the right spot with us, and he’s able to do that more often and guide us to wins.
“Hopefully, that won’t be in the last couple of minutes. I’d like it to be earlier in the game, and we have more control over the result, but nevertheless, when it comes to pressure, sometimes people stand up, and Morgan certainly did that.”
Smith added: “We’ve got Jake Trueman—arguably the number one half-back in the club—still to return, but Morgan is doing a good job. He can play hooker too, so he’s got a few options for us. He’s been pretty sound in the games that he played last week, and this week, he’s developed some good combinations with Nick Staveley. They’re coming together; it is taking a bit more time than we would like, and we certainly haven’t got it all cracked, but it’s progress.
On his team’s performance as a whole, he continued: “They didn’t throw the towel in. We did it the hard way, but I’m pleased with the manner in which we hung in there at different stages and then fought back.
“At times, we did force things, and we caused a bit of our own misery along the way. To then fight back, well done to them, but we’ve got a lot of work to do on the last plays—some of that hurt us, some of those kicking plays—and we’ve got to get our heads around dealing with those plays a whole lot better.
“I thought we were pretty decent in the first half. We conceded a try from a kick, and that was it; we didn’t have any line breaks in the game, which is a positive. We need to take a leaf out of their book in terms of getting to the last plays. At this time of year, some of those kicks are hard to deal with, as we saw.
“We lacked patience and control at different stages, and a bit of self-control and discipline in the second half. There were some positives in amongst it, but I think we were trying too hard sometimes. We wanted to put on the good plays and stuff that you do in practice. Sometimes you try to do them at the wrong times in games. It’ll come.
“We’re still getting to know each other as well, some of them boys, and different combinations that I’m throwing at them. There are aspects of our game we’ll be pleased about and aspects that we need to learn quickly from because we made hard work of that.”
Smith also praised young debutante Jack Charles, who made his first senior appearance for the club having come off the bench in the second-half.
“He’s got a very mature head and he’ll get some more game time at different stages this year. We weren’t afraid to throw him in there. He’s ready for it and he’ll get other chances. He’s one of those kids that won’t die wondering.
“I said to him that I wouldn’t have been surprised if he turned up with the winning try either. He’s one of those sort of kids. Morgan (Smith) likes to take on the line, and so does Jack. We were more than happy to give him a crack there and he did alright.”
On loanee duo Matty Russell and Joe Bullock, Smith added: “I thought both loan players were very good for us. What we saw from Matty is what Matty can do and he’s very good at it. I’m glad he got a try on his second stint here. He deserved it after the hard work and those tough yardage carries.
“He puts his body on the line. He really got us on the front foot and he was a big part of why we were comfortable in the first half. I thought Joe Bullock was solid as well in his first hit out for us. He did a good job.”
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