Completely agree with that!

Nice to see you back on here pal. At least your team may make you smile nowadays, all the best.

Thanks Dave,I would have been loving this season but I have more important things to sort out right now so be doubtful if I attend again this season.I think people are getting ahead of themselves a bit as we may have hit form at wrong time and I can see us struggle in the super 8s....just my opinion as someone looking in.

Of course some will have personal issues & commitments and financial reasons for not attending, but there are still many that have drifted away from the club out of frustration or boredom that the club needs to get back for it to be profitable and grow.

I think if we continue this form, don't even have to win something, we should start to see some supporters come back, why wouldn't you want to watch a winning team playing found rugby.

6 home games left I'd be looking at doing a mini season pass.

Agreed, many only see the referee as a 14th opponent. This is simply not the case.

We were potentially the makers of our own downfall in the first half. On 3 occasions by forcing the pass or having a miracle cut out pass we knocked on within their 20 with tackles to spare. The needs to be converted into points on the board. When our players play the perfect error free game, only then can we look at the refs performance.

That said Spegs, if you want an example of a player who has the measure of the officials as a group, check out Mahe Fonua. He gets a penalty in virtually every game for quick play the balls before the tackler has had a chance to move away from the ruck.

Regarding the gate. It was a bit disappointing to see a thousand less people there from the st game.

Bit of a mixed bag for me last night. We struggled to get a quick PTB all night which stopped us playing our natural game. I expect wire to be even better than this next week so we really need to up our game if we're to be in with a shout.

I thought we gave widnes too many easy yards all night but was pleased that our defence was much tighter out wide.

tuimavave not really looking convincing at 6 IMO and our attack was way off where it has been. We looked slow and ponderous again which was partly due to the slow PTB but also that sneyd and carlos just aren't working well together as a partnership yet. We really failed to create much all night and the only try where we really created a gap in their defence was the bowden one. Like I say, we need to be much better next week as wire's defence is a cut above widnes'

Good to get the 2 points but we need to start finding some consitency and being dominant in games for 60 minutes plus rather than 20. We won't win big games if we don't

Our attack looked slow first half and that's because of slow play if the ball you have highlighted in the first half, in the 2nd half with the quick play if the balls our attack looked better and so did our halfs, more space meant better kicks highlighted in our kick chase, which was excellent 2nd half.

I still think Pryce will be back and have a big day in our season, not sure where you could play him currently?

.... I'd bring Pryce back at no 6.
I'm still not convinced Carlos is the answer (yet), and the next 2 games against Warrington and Cas really could cement a top 2 place.
Not the games to be proving that Carlos is the answer.

Yeh why not go with carlos on the bench again, pryce back at 6. Worked well against rovers, and is definitely a positive plan b

Problem with carlos on the bench is we lose forward rotation

But our props can manage big minutes so it's no problem having a pivot or an outside back on the bench.

Radford was correct to drop Pryce but i think he has made a hole for himself now stating that Carlos Tuimavave is our answer to the 6 problem.
I like Carlos but he was far more effective at left centre.
So what does he do now knowing we have difficult games ahead.
Does he keep the Sneyd/Carlos combo which realistically is work in progress or bring back a hopefully rejuvenated Leon Pryce with a point to prove?
I think he should bring back Pryce but what will he do with Tuimavave?
I hope he doesnt feel obligated to put Carlos on the bench as we really need to keep a stronger bench with Pritchard,Green,Bowden and Thompson/Hadley

I don't see a hole being dug. We have a couple of options in the halves, one younger, fresher, less experienced, one older, wilier, with some injury challenges. I'd invest time on combinations in training and pick based on form and opposition.

Our best performance of the season was played without carlos, manu and pritchard. I actually think that our best team is probably one where ellis and mini play 2nd row for long minutes but that leaves us with the problem of what to do with frank and manu. We certainly look better with ellis playing out wide rather than down the middle and rotation of thompson, green and bowden has been effective when we start with watts and taylor. Prtichard's best games for us have been when he was started which he has expressed a preference for. I guess it's nice to have such an embarrassment fo riches in the 2nd row but not sure it means we get the best out of the squad

Carlos can come on & change a game so his presence from the bench is as equal as one of the props.

Our best performance this season was at Catalan

Think Saints away was best but I understand what you mean by Cats. Stronger team but it was only the second game? Think we should stick with Carlos now, dropping him for Leon could cause him to go into his shell? He hasn' t done anything wrong and needs to build a partnership with Sneeeeeeedd. Pack wasn't firing last night and really missed Watts, the go forward will be back next Friday and should set the platform for the halves.

imo I would stick with carlos for now, hopefully hes only going to get better, pryce blows hot and cold and hasn't been to consistant, plus his defence can be iffy at best

On the subject of attendances, for the last 2 weeks the card-reader in the disabled entrance has been "offline" when you scan your cards and showing "invalid pass". The steward has had to manually count the people through with a pen and paper. if there are other machines "offline" they are not counting correctly.

attendance up by nearly a 1,000 on last years home fixture v widnes, so we are getting some fans back www.hullfc.com/first-team/match/ ... kings-22-8

attendance up by nearly a 1,000 on last years home fixture v widnes, so we are getting some fans back www.hullfc.com/first-team/match/ ... kings-22-8

Once the forwards started being more direct (led by mini) things picked up. At one point in the first half it seemed like we had about 6 halves on the field and they were all running sideways or backwards. Second half the props were running straighter and it flowed off the back of that.

Agree totally. Pace and elusiveness towards the end of a game could prove a vital. I think the reason why our forwards wasn't as effective last night was down to the half backs, in particular Carlos, yes been eager and wanting the ball is great but it was at the wrong time.. their was times in that game where he should be directing play and injecting his presence when gaps appear, but demanding the ball on play 2 with no go forward and no break in defensive line then throwing the ball out wide expecting something to happen is not the answer, that's when overplaying starts, mistakes follow and frustration begins. Hardwork before playing expansive is the key, 2 to 3 hard drives and quick play the balls open gaps to then be able to play and that's where pryce has the edge, he's an organiser, the problem is after 4 or 5 games in a row he fatigues. I lost count last night of how many drop balls through overplaying on play 2 and 3 all because of not doing the hard work and disorganisation in attack. This led to hospital passes. 2nd half much better, got a roll on and played what was in front of us I. E Houghton try. I really do rate Carlos but it's just not the right time to experiment, this is a crucial period of the season

We haven't seen the last of Leon he's had a few niggles nothing serious, the time off will keep him fresh.

I'd like to see Pryce still play his part.
He seems to drift out of games, but when he does inject himself, it usually leads to points.
Not totally convinced by Carlos at stand off at the moment, but appreciate he needs time to grow into the role.