Hull FC fell to a 24-10 defeat at St Helens as their three-game winning streak came to an end.
Here’s a look at some of the talking points to emerge from the clash.
The Black and Whites always knew they were going to be challenged at the Totally Wicked Stadium. They haven’t beaten St Helens since 2017 and having seen Kristian Woolf’s side fall out of the Challenge Cup last weekend, they were expecting a reaction.
Falling behind early will have been a point of frustration for Brett Hodgson, who knew his side would need to be at their best for the full 80 minutes, but he will have been happy with periods of the first half as FC appeared to be on top. They found holes, made metres after contact and opened the champions up on a few occasions.
However, they couldn’t reproduce that performance in the second half as a couple of sloppy defensive errors gave Saints the opportunity to click through the gears and ease home. The Black and Whites are aspiring to reach the Merseyside club’s level in the not too distant future but they were taught some tough lessons by a side who have been at the top of the tree for some time.
Saints remained intact and resolute throughout the contest, even when reduced to 12 men following the sin-binning of James Bell and they punished Hull’s mistakes almost every time. FC are on the right track, of that there is no question as they continue to build towards becoming an established top four team, but they’ve some way to go before they reach St Helens’ level.
When the team news was released at 6.30pm, Hull fans were talking about one bold decision made by the head coach. Hodgson had both his senior half-backs available to him after their respective suspensions, but he only opted to bring Josh Reynolds
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