Minichiello has faith in Hull’s self-belief

Hull FC second row Mark Minichiello feels that his team’s spirit and togetherness gives them a real boost going into Friday evening’s Super League play-off semi-final against Wigan.

Hull travel to the DW Stadium at the end of a week which saw six of their players, including Minichiello, picked for the Super League Dream Team.

But as well as skills, Minichiello feels his team deserve plaudits for ther way they have worked at their self-belief this season.

He also insists that spirit remains high, despite the loss to Warrington last week.

“I think the entire squad has worked hard throughout preseason and the entire season to be tight,” he told Love Rugby League.

“We’re a tightknit group. We’ve done a lot of things together.

“When you train hard together and you’re winning, it creates a good buzz around the place, and brings the team closer.

“I think everyone’s played a role in that.

“We’ve been through some really tight games this year, we’ve been behind in a lot of them, and managed to win them.

“Self-belief within the group is high. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve had a couple of tight losses.

“We’ve still got plenty of self-belief.”

Speaking personally, Minichello is relishing the chance to test himself in a semi-final.

“It’s a semi-final, if you’re not looking forward to that, then you shouldn’t be playing rugby league,” he said.

“It’s going to be a physical game. All four games we’ve played against them this yeear have been tight and physical, and I’m expecting nothing less in this game.

“It’s going to be a difficult one at Wigan, and we’re going to have to be at our best.”

Meanwhile, Minichiello was pleased to be named in the Dream Team, seeing it as a bonus to the club success he has experienced in 2016.

“It’s a proud moment,” he said.

“It’s not something you set out to achieve at the beginning of the year, but it’s an honour to be named.”