Hull FC have it all to do after defeat to Leeds – but they must keep on fighting.
13:05, 01 Sep 2025Updated 13:18, 01 Sep 2025
Hull FC it all to do – but must continue the fight.
After twenty minutes of Saturday’s clash between Hull FC and Leeds Rhinos, it looked like a fierce contest was forming, but sport sometimes does strange things.
The first quarter was a real battle as both teams got stuck into each other. In fact, Hull built some decent field position and also repelled their line. They were in the thick of it and perhaps could and should have taken the lead. But then it all changed.
Around 20 minutes in, Hull mixed up a block play and gifted possession back to Leeds, who didn’t pass the opportunity by. They then compounded that error, kicking the resulting restart out on the full and Leeds scored again. And then they gifted a third try with another mix-up on the block play seeing Jake Connor intercept and race away to score.
That left Hull a mountain to climb, who, in between those mix-ups, lost Herman Ese’ese and then Ed Chamberlain to injury. Already doing it tough with big players out, it was the last thing they needed, and it left them a mountain to climb – and with too many square pegs in round holes, they were well beaten at 34-0.
That’s the reality of it, but it’s to take nothing away from Leeds, who are mounting a serious challenge for Super League now and look good value for a tilt at Old Trafford. But to mount their own play-off challenge, Hull need big players on the field. They can’t lose the volume of personnel they have over the last month – John Asiata, Will Pryce, Jed Cartwright, and Liam Knight, to name four – and then two more during the game and expect to beat Super League’s top teams.
Again, this was a harsh reality coming to its head. Hull are doing it tough – and they were no match. They gave it everything at St Helens the week before last and just came up short, but against the Rhinos, they were heavily beaten, and there can be no complaints.
In the second half, Hull weathered the storm a bit and had attacking opportunities, but with new combinations forced as a result of injuries, they couldn’t threaten Leeds’ line enough to score. It ended up being a stale end to what all week promised to be a fierce battle.
Now the weekend’s action leaves Hull outside of the top six positions, with Wakefield hammering Huddersfield and left with two games – Castleford and Salford – that you expect them to win. Wakefield’s other game is against Hull KR – Hull FC’s opponents this Sunday – so there’s no diluting the challenge ahead.
The Robins will start as massive favourites, with Hull, who also suffered knocks to Cade Cust and Liam Watts, really up against it. Their top six hopes hang by a thread and with Hull likely needing to beat Rovers to get back into the six, Wakefield will now be expected to finalise the last play-off position. But that doesn’t mean that Hull throw in the towel now. Far from it, and that’s their challenge for the last three games: to keep on fighting.
Their last two games of the season, both home affairs against Warrington and Catalans, are very winnable. They have to continue to take the fight to the very last round and, at the very least, ensure they finish the season on a positive note. They have made progress this year; of that, there is no doubt, but the last thing they want now is for their campaign to fizzle out and finish with a whimper. That’s been the case in recent seasons and it can’t happen again. If Hull don’t make the top six, then so be it. But go down swinging.
Give it everything against Rovers and then go again the following week, get two home wins, and give the loyal fans something to cheer about. This isn’t the time to let everything go to waste. It’s time to roll the sleeves up and continue to earn the plaudits they’ve got this year with the same fight and spirit in their performance. John Cartwright will demand no less. Hopefully, the squad will continue to have the same attitude and mentality.