Lee Radford told his Hull players their performance against Hull KR was not good enough
Last Updated: 03/04/15 5:17pm
Lee Radford told his Hull players their performance against Hull KR was "not good enough" and repeated the message countless times as he poured over a 20-6 derby loss.
The Black and Whites felt flat on their faces on one of the biggest nights of their season, disappointing the majority of a 20,000 crowd at the KC Stadium.
They were bested in every department and remain on four points, two wins outside of the top eight - already a concern for all connected with the club ahead of the mid-season split.
Hull KR's fans serenaded the under-pressure Radford with chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" and some home fans joined in too, adding to the woes of the FC coach.
"They weren't good enough," he said. "They came down our end three times and scored three times. It's a soft mentality from us and that's not good enough.
"With our kicking game, I wrote it on our tick sheet not to kick off Ken Sio or Josh Mantellato. The message never got through and that was a waste of ink.
"We had some ad-lib but everybody was on their heels. It's not good enough, not good enough with the ball."
FC next head to champions St Helens and Radford has called on his senior players to take some responsibility, effective immediately.
"We need the win, it's huge," he said. "We have aspirations of making the top eight but unless we change and become tougher on each other... I've got no doubt that when their (KR) captain sees someone not doing their job, he lets them know.
"Monday is huge now. Unless we change or toughen up mentally between the ears, the outcome won't change. We have to be tougher and not accept the three times they come down the field and open the gates for them.
"You try and make the environment better and more professional for the group. We've had assistance to develop mental toughness but at the moment it's not transpiring. The owner has put his hand in his pocket but it has to transfer to the green stuff.
"Pressure is here, in this role I have. I hear the supporters singing the song, but I will be working tirelessly to try and change mindsets in the group."
Playing for each other
In truth it was just too easy for Chris Chester's Rovers. Pushed all the way by champions St Helens a week ago, they could not have wished for an easier work-out ahead of a notoriously punishing schedule of fixtures.
"We created enough opportunities to win two or three games. I'm extremely proud of this effort, they keep turning up for each other these boys," Chester said.
"They got into a commanding lead and we thoroughly deserved to win.
"We came up with some good decisions defensively. We defended well and turned up for each other.
"We spoke about winning the energy battle. We wanted to, we did that and scored some really good tries."