Tony Smith has praised his side’s spirit in their defeat to Catalans Dragons in the South of France, but believes the Black & Whites must improve their discipline going forward.
The Airlie Birds found themselves well in the contest at the Stade Gilbert Brutus until the closing stages on a rare soaking wet night in Perpignan.
Tries from Fa’amanu Brown and Jack Walker gave Smith’s side hope, but the hosts got over the line thanks to second-half scores from Arthur Morgue and Tom Davies.
Speaking after the game, Smith said: “We’re disappointed because we were up to our eyeballs in that game for various stages and times of the match. We’re disappointed to start with such a soft try, but I thought after that we fought our way back in, we showed spirit, and we turned it into a game of rugby league. It was a slow game, but it was also a tough one between two teams who were fighting hard.
“I’ve got to say that there was too much conceding six-agains and penalties once again. We’ve got to stop it. It’s hurting us, it’s making it tougher, and it’s catching up with us in the end. It makes you work harder than you need to. Once we get that sorted, we’ll be in games for longer.
“Some of the things holding us back are ourselves, some of our execution, and building pressure. I like the spirit once again that we’re showing. The boys are determined to get all of the components right. We’re working hard to do that at the moment, but as long as we have that spirit and that determination, it takes us a long way.”
Smith continued: “We can fix some things up, so we’re winning more of the battles along the way. We need to win more penalty counts, and we need to win more six-agains. We need to keep 13 players on the park at any one time. All of those things will help us. We’ve got to learn from those things. There hasn’t been a round yet where we’ve had all 13 men on the park. Even just doing that will help us.
“We’ll continue to grow as a team, and the more players that we get back from injury and suspension, the better we will go. I thought Herman (Ese’ese) did a couple of good stints there, and some of the more experienced players returning will certainly help us.”
Hull were dealt blows in the match, losing both Matty Russell and Jack Walker to injury, while Danny Houghton was also withdrawn from the action in the second-half.
“We had two replacements for wingers tonight. We had Matty come off with a pec tear, and we also had Jack Walker, who strained his hamstring scoring that try. It wasn’t ideal.
“You don’t plan for two wingers replacements but the boys dug in and got shuffled around. Darnell went back on the wing at one stage, and Laney played another three positions. I thought he was very good for us tonight. We need to check on Mint (Danny Houghton) as well. He had some tightness in his hamstring.”
Tony Smith is proudly sponsored by Rowe Freight.
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