TV pundit delivers brutal assessment on Hull’s forward pack

Four-time Super League Grand Final winning forward Kyle Amor has given a brutal assessment on Hull’s forward pack following their fifth straight defeat in Super League.

Tony Smith’s side fell to a 34-6 loss to Warrington at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, conceding five tries in the first half to Matty Ashton, Peter Mata’utia, Ben Currie, Matt Dufty and Josh Drinkwater.

The side held Warrington out in the second half until the 72nd minute, when back-rower Matty Nicholson crossed with ease, while Stefan Ratchford converted five from six.

Hull have picked up just two wins from seven under Smith in 2023, and sit 10th in the table, having failed to pick up a single point in March.

Amor, now with Widnes in the Championship, was on commentary duties during Channel 4’s coverage alongside Mark Wilson for the Super League Round Seven clash.

And the 2021 Challenge Cup winner believes Hull’s pack is not good enough to compete with the teams at the top.

Daryl Powell’s Warrington remain at the top of the table, boasting a forward pack that includes the likes of Paul Vaughan, Gil Dudson and the returning Josh McGuire, who will make his Super League debut next week against Catalans. 

Kyle Amor delivers brutal assessment

“I don’t believe that this Hull FC pack are quick enough, explosive enough, mobile enough even, to compete with the very top teams,” Amor said on commentary in the second half.

“I think on the evidence here today and what we have already seen in the opening seven rounds from them, it would be very difficult not to agree with that.”

Tony Smith: We need to toughen up

Tony Smith believes changes will come to the MKM Stadium and has urged fans to remain patient, while he believes his side need to toughen up for the rest of the season.

Hull’s only wins of the season so far have come against Castleford and Leeds, with the Good Friday derby on the arisen against rivals Hull KR.

“We need to execute better to start with and we need to handle things better and cope better when things go wrong, we need to toughen up,” Smith said following his side’s defeat.

“It happens to other teams and they cope with it and we have to learn to cope with it ourselves.

“But Warrington are a team playing with confidence and a spring in their step and making things happen and we didn’t handle some of their actions well enough in the first half.

“I thought we had more about us in the second half and showed more determination but in the first half we were not good enough.

“We showed come character in the second half and I’m not saying we got it right and it’s all rosy now, but our response in the second 40 was a whole lot better.

“Our contact was a whole lot better in the second half, we competed in the ruck and scrambled well so there are some positives to take out of the game, I don’t think it was all doom and gloom we just need to be smarter for the full 80 minutes.”

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