'We're not tough enough' Simon Grix's frank Hull FC assessment after Leeds hammering

Simon Grix pulled no punches after Hull FC's heavy defeat.

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22:32, 6 SEP 2024
Updated03:18, 7 SEP 2024

Hull FC were hammered at Leeds. (Image: SW Pix)

Simon Grix has branded Hull FC's performance at Leeds Rhinos as 'embarrassing' with the interim coach conceding that his side are not 'tough enough' to play in Super League. The Black and Whites were hammered 68-6 at Headingley on Friday night, with the club losing all 13 of their away fixtures for the first time in the summer era.

Taking to the cleaners by Leeds, Brad Arthur's side scored ten tries in total, with Hull KR-bound forward Rhyse Martin landing 13 goals. James Donaldson also landed the final goal on his last home game for the club.

Grix, meanwhile, pulled no punches in his assessment of the game. Speaking to Hull Live post-match, he said: "It's embarrassing. We're on the end of a hiding. I thought Leeds clicked tonight, and everything did go for them. We didn't get much by the way of decisions, but you don't when you're getting dominated like that. We didn't help ourselves within. Sadly, we're continuing to find out bits about each other, and it's not the nice stuff.

"I thought we started the game pretty well. The start of games are like arm wrestles, if you like, and the first bit, we did alright. We then came up with some rookie errors and a few dropped balls in the backfield, which put us on the back foot, but it's the lack of resilience towards those mishaps that happen within a game. We're just not tough enough to defend for ourselves and each other when they come along, unfortunately, and it's been a problem all year.

"We've managed to mask it on occasion, but it was certainly evident again tonight. We got lucky tonight too, Leeds opted to take the two points a few times, and hadn't they not have done, I'm not sure we would have held our line together under that sort of pressure. It's not an excuse, but we had about 30% of the ball throughout the game. We were just defending all of the time, and we weren't willing to do anything about it."

Grix continued: "I thought Jed Cartwright kept going and Laney had a dig as he always does, but yeah, we weren't nowhere near the right level to play in Super League. We're doing it wrong constantly, we're doing it okay now and then, and a couple of plays here and there, but too much of the time, we're way off it.

"We've practiced on what we were going to do with the ball, and we didn't have it. We've heard it a million times, but it is about your attitude and what you do. Again, not everyone is going to be right, but our attitude towards covering up for each other is not there. The resilience, as I said, and the ability to be there for each other, are just not there. We're not tough enough. We were as bad as we've been all year. We saw some ugly sides of behaviours. We had no resilience, and we got what we deserved."

Grix also confirmed that Morgan Smith was absent due to the birth of his child, as reported by Hull Live pre-match. "They could have had the baby as we speak," Grix added. "Hopefully, Morgs has had a good day anyway."