‘The honeymoon’s over’: Hull FC coach fires warning shot to squad following Wigan Warriors defeat

Hull FC head coach John Cartwright has fired a warning shot to his side after their 36-12 defeat at home against Wigan Warriors on Sunday afternoon, stating ‘the honeymoon is over’.

FC trailed 22-12 at the break against reigning Super League champions Wigan, but failed to score a single point in the second half despite seeing a lot of the ball in good areas.

Showing their clinical nature, the visitors took the chances they got in the second 40 to inflate the scoreline, and ended up very comfortable winners come the final hooter.

Australian ace Liam Knight was sin-binned late on for Hull, and fellow prop Herman Ese’ese was forced off early on in the second half after taking a huge hit to the chest.

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‘The honeymoon’s over’: Hull FC coach fires warning shot to squad following Wigan Warriors defeat

Cartwright‘s side have now lost three of their last four games across all competitions, with Sunday’s loss to Wigan preceded by a 28-14 defeat at home against cross-city rivals and current table toppers Hull KR.

Speaking to Sky Sports after their latest defeat, the FC boss expressed his discontent at what he’d seen from his side in recent weeks.

He said: “The honeymoon’s over.

“We’ve had two quality opponents in the last couple of weeks (in KR and Wigan).

“There was a bit of circumstance against them (FC) last week, I thought they fought hard, but (not) today.

“You’re getting to that stage of the season now where you’re waking up sore pretty much every day and you’re playing wounded.

“The younger members of the squad have got to get their heads around that, because it doesn’t get any easier.

“We’re a third of the way through, and hopefully we get some troops back within the next three-to-four-weeks.

“We’re really struggling to build any combinations in the centres and in the back-row because we’ve got blokes playing out of position.

“But that’s no excuse, that’s something we’re dealing with internally, and Wigan were too good for us today.”

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