Hull can't dine out on improving from last season

Hull FC had a good start to the Super League season.

- By DAN TOMLINSON

They won five games in a row and lost just one of their first nine in all competitions.

But the honeymoon period after last season's woeful account is over. For all the praises Hull have received, they've now got to buck their ideas up.

At the Magic Weekend, they were an ill-disciplined rabble - an eventuality more perplexing given the focus on discipline all week. John Cartwright spoke of its need, and so did John Asiata in Hull’s pre-match press conference.

Hull then delivered an account that was anything but disciplined. They were unorganised and off the pace, and when that frustration came to the fore, it got all the more ugly, with Liam Knight sent off after a yellow for Sam Eseh.

But Hull’s poor discipline wasn’t limited to two cards. It told in their inability to complete sets on their terms, get to points, put kicks in desired areas, and put pressure on the opposition.