Lee Radford proud of Hull FC youngsters in loss at Warrington
Photo courtesy of Richard Long
Hull FC coach Lee Radford said their loss to Warrington will be a good learning curve for his younger players.
The Black and Whites conceded five tries in the second half as they lost 30-12 to the Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Thursday night.
FC have been plagued by injuries in recent weeks and youngsters Cameron Scott, Hakim Miloudi, Liam Harris, Jordan Lane, Masi Matongo and Brad Fash all played.
But Radford said he was proud of his players after the game.
He said: “I thought we played well for the first 40 and unfortunately, we just ran out of juice in the second half.
“I take the game for what it is, they have got the most expensive right edge in the competition playing against the least experienced and probably the cheapest, so for them to punch above their weight for as long as they did was great stuff.
“Cameron Scott was up against Ryan Atkins and I’m pretty sure that Cameron wants to reach the heights that Ryan has reached throughout his career and hopefully it was an advertisement for Cam for when he is doing conditioning drills. They are the reasons why you have to push yourself a bit harder and that’s why you have to put a little bit extra on the end of the bar in the gym to aspire to be like Ryan.
“This is the elite level and that’s what you have got to try and push yourself towards. They are good kids and they will learn from this and the game was a great advertisement for them.”
A controversial incident occurred towards the end of the first half. Chris Hill claimed he had been bitten by Miloudi and the incident was put on report by referee Gareth Hewer.
When asked about the incident, Radford commented: “I spoke to Chris at the end and I said if he did it then I apologise on behalf of him. If Hakim has, he is a silly boy and if not – no dramas.”
Hull FC star Jake Connor left the field late on and didn’t return with a hamstring injury. Radford revealed that he will be assessed further this week. He could miss Hull’s Challenge Cup quarter-final with St Helens next weekend.