Mahe Fonua has reviewed last night’s pre-season friendly victory over York City Knights, and has explained the Black & Whites are pleased to put their work of pre-season so far into action on the field.
Hull ran out 28-22 winners in the first ever game at the LNER Community Stadium and Brett Hodgson got a victory under his belt in his first ever game in charge of the club.
FC dominated the first-half with tries from Swift, Tuimavave, Ma’u and Fonua himself seeing the visitors lead comfortably 22-6 at the break, before a late flurry of tries for the hosts in the final quarter of the game narrowed the scoreline with Hull utilising the entire depth of their squad in the second-half.
Speaking to hullfc.com after the game, Fonua said: “As a whole, we went relatively well, particularly in that first half and there are some real positives we can take out of last night’s game.
“York managed to fight back towards the end of the game, but across the board, everyone put in a solid performance and just for me personally, I thought I did my job well.
“I tried to help out the forwards where I could by taking some carries out of backfield. It was nice to get back out there; the lungs were hurting a bit but it was good to blow off the cobwebs.”
On an impressive first-half performance from the Airlie Birds, Fonua added: “That first forty optimised what we are about and what we have been working on.
“Defensively and in attack, we looked pretty spot on in that first forty. We built pressure and we showed some good combinations with our spine and edges. All those things that we have done on the training field came across positively.
“It was a good hit out, but pre-season friendlies are also about working out what you still need to work on ahead of the start of the season. The next couple of week’s we’ll be doing that and finalising everything for that round one game in a couple of weeks.”
On the influence of new recruit Josh Reynolds, who made his first appearance for the Black & Whites last night, Fonua added: “He was really keen to get out there last night, and what you saw from him is what he is going to bring to the team.
“He was energetic and competitive throughout, fighting every play and in the mix across the park. He is always a part of the big plays and rides the kick chases as well. Him and Sneyd really compliment each other and there were some good signs of that.”
With Fonua also getting his own name on the scoresheet, he continued: “If only tries in friendlies counted, I’d be off the nudie!
“It goes to show that the combos we’ve been working on as backs are paying off. We had something set up and with Jake’s instinct and initiative, he managed to put it on his boot. Me and Carlos were in position to run it and either one of us could have scored.”
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