How strange that whilst your team is playing (and where you there aswell?!) You were concerned at which forum members were online! Mental. It's not like I interact much on this site which has clearly not improved over the years either


It's been a quiet afternoon in the world of RL so it was interesting to see what the verdict of pretty much the only fully competitive game today was going. (Playing your game, The Phantom Horseman is a Fev fan and was probably intrigued too!).
Nevertheless, congrats on a tough, nail-biting win and if you've avoided any injuries then that's the main relief of the game where friendlies are concerned.

Reaction from Smith

Hull FC coach Tony Smith admitted his side were "undercooked" after they fought back to beat Sheffield Eagles 22-20 at Olympic Legacy Park in a pre-season friendly.

In Smith's first match as Black & Whites boss, and the debut of several new signings such as Tex Hoy, Jake Clifford and Brad Dywer, the Super League side downed the Championship outfit by two points.

"It wasn't necessarily about the win, it was a good hit-out for us," he said.

"There was some cobwebs there and there was stuff we thought we'd have to look at and fix, probably expected in some ways. But you have to go through the pain of doing that sometimes in a friendly.

"I thought it was good for us in many ways and we got better as the game went on, controlled things and played the way we wanted to play. Earlier on we were blowing a little bit and not taking advantage of being in some good positions.

The Eagles started well and took a 20-12 lead in at half-time. Hull FC powered back in the second half, sparked in part by Dwyer, and tries to Danny Houghton and Cameron Scott.

"We're going into the season a bit undercooked," Smith said.

"I know some teams started before us and have probably done some harder stuff than us. I'm just wary of being overcooked. I don't want us to be overcooked.

"You can always put the cake back in the oven if it isn't quite cooked. We're probably not cooked enough but we've still got a month to go.

"If you're overcooked it's pretty hard to overcook yourself...But we showed good character. There was no panic. We were really grown up... we kept our composure."

Smith paid credit to Dywer for "speeding the game up".

"He was electric, he did a great job," he said.

"He's been terrific for us."

Hull FC started with a new spine with Hoy at fullback, Ben McNamara and Clifforfd in the halves, and Joe Lovodua. Hoy and Clifford have both joined from the Newcastle Knights.

"They were good, they showed some glimpses," Smith said.

"Baring in mind that's their first time those two Aussie boys have played in English conditions, English rugby league, English rules. 

"It's a fair bit to handle in a short bit of time.

"They were not bad. Each of them showed how exciting they're going to be for us. I thought it was important those two played today. 

"There were a few cobwebs, that's to expected - for all of us."

Why do we have to be over cooked or undercooked...why can't we be cooked to perfection?

As he said you can always put the cake back in the oven

Not sure why people are optimistic after today

If Hodgson had been in charge today and only beat Sheffield by 2 points with the team we played he'd been getting slaughtered

Like said earlier signings apart it's still the same players who were a shambles all last season

Smith is a great coach but he's not a miracle worker

No one was expecting an easy victory and nor should they.
Sheffield are a decent team and no mugs.

I was concerned about us getting done on the outsides during the 1st half and there were a fair few 1 on 1 tackles missed.

Got to work on our attacking and defensive structure still, which is to be expected but I was pleased with Dwyer, seemed to turn the game around single handedly.

Not over concerned with the result as it was much needed preseason hit out.

Not if someone left the cake out in the rain.

Guess it depends how long it takes to bake it

not one to get too excited/disappointed with friendly matches, but surely a match like today would be better than a 40-60 point hammering! todays scoreline shows where we need to improve on

As Noel Edmonds warned on Brass Eye cake stimulates a part of the brain called Shatner's Bassoon. Makes a second sound like a month.

Just so no kids. It'll ruin your life.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... er-8058027 Escaped relatively injury free. Mitch sprained ankle, Darnell bruised heel. Tex had ice on his calf at the game according to people on SM. Can't be too serious if Smith didn't mention it

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... er-8058027 Escaped relatively injury free. Mitch sprained ankle, Darnell bruised heel. Tex had ice on his calf at the game according to people on SM. Can't be too serious if Smith didn't mention it

I don’t think that I can make it, cos it took so long to bake it and I’ll never have that recipe again, oh nooooo.
Sounds like it’s going to be another long season, if he’s our chef.

Richard Harris

The same Sheffield no mugs who we smashed last season

Friendlys aren't a huge factor

But super league v lower championship is still a big gap or should be

The signings we've made are great dwyer, hoy, Clifford and Sutcliffe especially but can they carry the dross of last 3 years ?

That's the worry for me

People suddenly think cause Smiths here he can turn Houghtons taylors griffins can suddenly perform and haven't done it for 2 years

Will mcintosh stop making errors etc ?

How are these factors going to change so soon ?

I think it is important to remember that this was a first run out for the lads, for some like Clifford, Swift, Cator it is their first game for a very long time. Regardless of opposition it was never going to be a vintage performance.

There was definitely positives to take away from the game. The first thing which became evident is that every player looked in very good shape. We have some absolute units in our side, but the likes of Satae and Tag looks much fitter then what we have previously seen, the proof of that being playing the full first half and still looking relatively fresh.

The second is Pace. Hoy and Dwyer in particular looked rapid. I can understand the comparisons made between Hoy and Field, especially in how they move. He has a couple of blunders which lead to tries but with ball in hand he will always have the defenders guessing.

I also thought the line speed was good, and even more impressive seen as the ref was keen oven giving a massive 10 most sets. There was some hits from the likes of Fash and Satae, and also Taylor. Easy to say in a friendly but it looked like he had a bit of fire in his belly for the game again.

Onto some negatives and one of them has to be the leaving ourselves short on numbers out wide. It wouldn't be as much of a worry if we hadn't struggled with this for a while. It is still early days for Smith so I am hopeful this can be rectified. There were some daft individual errors, but as a first run out in freezing conditions it can be forgiven.

Overall, a good run out. And credit to Sheffield, they have some good players and wouldn't be shocked to see them in the frame for a play off spot in the Championship.

On the numbers out wide point, both our first choice centres weren't playing yesterday - so hopefully this is an easy issue to fix up when Carlos and Liam are back, also when players get used to playing with each other a bit more.

You can’t read into friendlies. Winning/Losing is pretty irrelevant.

Tag and Satae played first 40. Obviously Smith wanted to get some miles in the boys legs. Whilst it might have made the score prettier if they had played shorter stints they wouldn’t have had to play under same fatigue and resilience

We played 3 different players at Hooker and mixed our pivots up. We are bound to lose a bit of continuity there.

Add on top of that players such as Ligi, Brown, Evans, Carlos, sutcliffe, Trueman, and Savelio. We’re no where near at full strength yet and still have 4 weeks until start of season.

Some Hull fans confuse me, The talent boy just loves picking on players irrespective of how they play. Loves slagging Mcintosh off but ignores the little stuff he does excellently like the skill it took to set up Tags try.

Unreal to see Tag play big minutes and look fit for the first time since 2017, if he can contribute positively this season it does give me a bit more confidence in our pack.

pity we cant get to see a friendly at home because pearson letting these stadium football grubs get away with murder.start kicking pearson.

The talentless boy

or maybe its not financially viable for the club! pointless paying thousands for a warm up match at home when we can easily arrange an away fixture or 2

Think the only way we would have a home friendly would be if it was a Derby. I don't mind the away friendlies personally, it gets me to grounds I wouldn't usually visit

Pleased for Cator , Hope he kicks on now from a couple of seasons ago .

Mcintosh spent half the season making school boy errors

Mitch is far and away better option than him didn't look out of place in a very good fiji team aswell

Late to the party, but very concerned about McNamara, I'm not convinced he is good enough, attack stopped when he got the ball. Litten was excellent, be tempted to look at him at fullback at Hoy at 6 at some point against Wakey.

I'd go shaul full back smith been impressed with him