I'll bite

total nonsense....we got beat by four points in a very tough semi final by a good team....it could have gone either way....and we nearly won it right at the end...this team has still got some big games in it.

We'll be challenging for the Grand Final again this year..and next year.

Well I watched it and although Wire weren't at their best they looked in it until the last minute.

Well said. I think both sets of fans can take away at least that their lads put in a performance. We played out of our skins, and I think even the most hardened fans would admit a bit of luck came our way today (about time!).

If we had of lost I'd have had no complaints and would have supported Wire at Wembley were I reckon you would have taken the silverware.

Luck?? Have you already forgotten about Gansongate??

Usual 5h1t3 from Padders (quelle surprise).

Yes, Bridge was poor, as were a few from Wire.

Bridge is a quality player. He'll bounce back

As a Hull fan I'm obviously not going to complain but that kick was a stinker. As soon as it left his boot Linehams eyes must have lit up because there was only one result. I just don't know what he was trying to achieve, even if it was a better quality kick and had found Riley he would have just been flattened by the on rushing Lineham anyway.

True, and we had tackles to play with, so putting it on the boot wasted a good attacking position. I have to say, had we gone 12 or 14 up at that point, I think we would have kicked on, as it is, it was the gap Hull needed and your lads capitalised on the opportunity for the rest of the game.

That said, we had enough chances to get back in the game if one or two other players (Briers, Hodgsons, Waterhouse, Morely etc) had put their hands up and shown the way. As it is, too many big players went AWOL and we deserve to lose if that happens.

i think the chris bridge kick was due to possibly thinking it was a knock on and therefore a free play; if it wasn't for that stupid rule i do believe he would of kept hold of it.

There needs to be a distinguishing signal between a simple back to one (for example off a players foot) or a knock on leading to a back to one, therefore the players can determine whether it is a free play or not.

I think today that swung the momentum completely and we bottled it after that; seemed to break our entire mentality from that point onwards and we never looked like winning; even with the huge amount of pressure in the final minutes, i didn't feel confident we would actually score.

Lets dust ourselves off and put some good form together and make a push for the grand final.

I thought Hull came out nervous and FC fans were fairly quiet early on. That kick changed the semi-final completely. It lifted the fans but you could physically see the heads and shoulders of the Hull players rise and stand tall. They had a buzz about them from that point on and we didn't take it off them until about 71minutes.

"Hello". People in glass houses! If we have to sign well freak knows what the unfinished stadium boys will need? Never saw your youthful team in the hat after the fourth round.

What's my wifi Internet connection and the Challenge cup got in common? There both wireless



Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway Wire will do something special in the playoffs I'm sure.

I don't think we will, i think we'll come up just short again, not because i'm a doom monger, i just don't think we'll do it.

Can see Myler coming back next week with Ratch moving to the centre spot with Bridge getting one time to reflect. We win together, we get beat together let's not crucify him. No one goes out to play badly.

Bridge made several big mistakes today which really didn't help your team.

The kick over for the Lineham try wasn't that bad an idea - you had more players there than Hull and Lineham was a long way back - but he executed it very badly meaning that it dropped nowhere near your guys and gave it to Lineham.

However, both sides made lots of errors. I haven't seen the stats but I think that the set completion for both sides must have been low. I thought at one point that they must have smeared vaseline on the ball because it was being dropped so often.

It was a great game, though, really tense stuff. The last few minutes especially nearly gave me a heart attack.

Phrases like "we wanted it more" really wind me up. Do you really think that is true?

The reason you won it today was that you played better than we did and made fewer mistakes, simple as

I agree, phases like that are annoying, similar to the pre-match 'we have the experience for these big games' speech by morley! how did that one work out?


great game, best team won, at least wire have the SL GF to go for still

Last night was the night I was hoping Chris Bridge might be sent off at Huddersfield - he had a poor game. Still, he wasn't the only one, Briers was rubbish too.

Bridge was unlucky in that 9 times out of 10 that's called as a Wire knock on and there's a scrum on the Hull 30.

Of course desire to win, emotions and determination to beat the odds can seriously effect how a player and a team perform.

Speak to any top level coach and they will tell you that mental preparation and being able to respond mentally is just as important as being able to physically. Sport psychology they call it and its a huge part of our game.

I'd suggest that Hull went into the game with a far better mental attitude than Warrington for this one, with a greater desire to win the game. As such, played with far greater urgency and desperation. Warrington on the other hand seemed to be approaching the game very analytically. Long story short, as a result, despite Warrington being the better side on paper and on form, we edged it imo.

Our form in the last 6 weeks would allude to this. We've targeted the cup for sure this season, ever since we were drawn against Catalan away.

Firstly congrats to Hull. You will have my support come the day.

During this season we have had a make do centre in Grix perform well every game he plays and two highly rated recognised centres playing poorly at times. Yesterday's game coincided with another poor game from a recognised centre and the team as a whole being rather flat. Hill, Wood and Higham found it very difficult to get on top as did Morley, Carvell and Monas. Briers was not his usual class act. The position now, is that the team and Smith have no excuses as why they don't give the Superleague title a real go and prove that this group of players is worthy of a title winning ring. Next year we need an improvement in the playing staff at centre.

Precisely.

We are the current holders, and have won the competition 3 times in the last 5 years. I very much doubt we went into that game yesterday thinking it doesn't matter if we don't get to the final, Super League is more important.

I'm sure Tony Smith knows that each and every game is important, regardless of whether or not it's for a place in a cup final, or for 2 league points.

thats exactly what i thoght on the way back to the car.

It was an astonishingly bad display from Bridge.. his performance started badly and went downhill... he coughed up possession how many times... 4/5/6? i lost count.

he couldn't have been any worse if he had tried....mindless penalty's, knock ons and THAT kick.

at 8-0 up we were dominant.... bridge then gave them 6 points and the game totally changed.

Briers was aimless all game...maybe we should have offered him a new contract after the semi-final. Look at what happened on the 78 minute mark, free play from the Hull knock-on Briers went inside instead of getting to the outside shoulder of the last Hull defender with Joel having a one on one ten metres out...he would have scored.

All our backs had poor games (maybe excepting Joel but he wasn't faultless).

I thought our pack did well on the whole.