Simon Grix is expecting his Hull FC side to turn up at Leeds Rhinos this Friday night 'embarrassed' at what they produced last week with the aim of producing a more 'respectable' performance.
The Black and Whites head to Headingley for their final away game of the season, looking for their first away win of the year, with Grix anticipating a fired-up display from his players, who know last week's performance against Castleford Tigers wasn't acceptable.
Looking to finish a disappointing season on a high, Grix and his coaching staff are trying to enforce good and positive habits in the here and now, with accountability taken in meetings and behaviour changes set ahead of what is going to be some substantial change with nine new players and new coaching staff coming in for pre-season training in November.
"Pre-season will see a lot of change," Grix said pre-match. "There's going to be a different approach to it, which will do the lads a world of good as well. It's been a tough old year. There's been a lot of negativity around us and within us at times. It's something that we need to push out. We don't want to start on November 4. We want to start now, whether that's fitness, nutrition, or whatever. We should be starting it now, and that message is a continual one from us as a group of staff.
“We've had a shorter week. We've not had a lot of contact time. We didn't brush the game last week under the carpet and move on. We looked at some of the ugly footage, and we had a discussion around that. We had a similar chat about how we need to buy into what we're doing. We got the ugly bit out of the way, and then we've got on with training.
"We've trained alright, to be fair, and we'll see what we come up with this week. I'm expecting us to turn up and be a bit embarrassed about our last outing, and hopefully that puts a little bit of fuel in people to get themselves up to the level that they think is respectable for them and us.
"We want to weigh words up with actions. We've all highlighted some important bits, and we'll be pushing them again. It's making sure that we're competing. There are different metrics within that, but we just want to go compete and give ourselves an opportunity to be in the game."
Frustrated with last week's display, Grix also pointed to the context within Hull's situation right now. While nobody is happy with the current situation, it is what it is, with constant changes to the team not helping their cause.
"It's frustrating," Grix added. "Immediately after the game, we were frustrated, and we're still frustrated now. But what we didn't mention after the game last week is that there is a lot of context around losing blokes. We lost Mint early, and by the end of the game, we didn't have a bench left; everyone had gone, so there's a bit in there on that. Still, it's disappointing to say where we were just seven days before in our performance, but we have to move on."
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