Andy Last has looked ahead to Sunday’s clash against Huddersfield Giants, and hopes to see his side restore some “professional pride”, however detailed the nature of the challenge following a fortnight in self-isolation.
Last is looking for a big reaction from his side who have been out of action since August 9th when his Hull went down to Salford, with the club’s Covid-19 situation becoming apparent in the following days.
Hull this weekend take on the Giants, with Last aiming for his side to provide him with his first win since taking the interim head coach role.
Speaking on the current status of his squad in his pre-match press conference, brought to you in association with Jacuzzi® , Last said: “We are committed to getting the game on and playing our part in keep the sport going, but it is no surprise that we have had to make some changes this week following Covid.
“A number of players are still showing symptoms or going through the RFL return to training checks, so they are unavailable for selection, but that provides opportunities for others to come in and stake a claim.
“Some of the players passed their tests in the last day or so and they have put their hand up to play to help the team.”
He added, “Hopefully the squad we put out on the field bring plenty of enthusiasm and for the new faces in there they grab the opportunity with both hands.”
Last explained the procedure of players returning to training having suffered with Covid-19 symptoms in recent weeks.
“The guys who are back in the camp after having the Coronavirus symptoms have to follow a return-to-play procedure which is similar to that of coming back after a concussion.
“They’re expected to come back in and do half-an-hour on the bike and get their heart-rate ticking to a certain level, and then answer some certain questions which the physio puts to them about their physical state. If the answers are positive, they can move onto the next stage. We still have some guys who are ticking off some certain boxes so we’re still looking at the makeup of the team for this weekend.
“It’ll be a case of those who are the fittest and most able will get the nod.”
Last believes a tough fortnight for the club could potentially galvanize the first-team squad, but explained that a poor performance against Salford earlier this month will be enough for players to want to restore some pride.
“We spoke about this potentially galvanizing the squad. We know we’ve had a lot of negative publicity directed at us and everyone has wanted to have a shot at us, so I’d like to think that the players’ mentality is a siege mentality and they’ll come out with a bit of fire in their belly to prove people wrong.
“And I’d like to hope that they’re hurting from an unacceptable performance against Salford. The players have been made aware that performance wasn’t good enough and I hope they will show some professional pride this weekend on the back of that.
“We’ll make changes. If we had played the week after Salford, there would have been four or five changes as I was not happy with the way some individuals performed. Those standards I expect were not met by some. Due to our lockdown, I may not have that luxury now to make the changes from a performance point of view. Hopefully the guys who take to the field do themselves and the shirt proud and play to the levels we expect.”
Last also praised individuals across the club for the way they reacted to the situation, as well as directing praise to other clubs across the league who have been both directly and indirectly affected by the virus.
“I have to say from a club point of view I think we handled that situation very well. From the medical team to the administration; if we can deal with such a difficult challenge in such a good manner, that bodes well going forward.
“You see people’s true character in times like that, and they didn’t buckle under the pressure and everyone acted in a very professional manner.
“The concern for us is that despite doing everything right as a club, the virus has still found its way in somehow. It is a highly contagious virus and there is a global pandemic going on. It is difficult to manage as most people have no symptoms – the only time we can act is if symptoms are there to be seen.
“I think in general, the clubs across the board have reacted to the situation very well. Daryl Powell for example has said he had to think about playing three different teams before their last league match, and as head coaches across the league, that is what we are prepared to do to get through this and complete our fixture list.
“I’m not one for reading much social media or the press, but I found it disappointing that it was a bit of a blame game towards the club. But it is what is it – it is in the past and we hope we have no more cases of coronavrius penetrating our bubble.”
Speaking on his own experience over the last fortnight, Last described the range of emotions experienced, adding: “It was a real range of emotions. If you’ve ever been on Oblivion at Alton Towers, when you get to the point where you drop off the edge down that vertical drop and you feel you can’t take any more of that force, imagine that part just carrying on for much longer. It put a real strain of our emotions.
“I was sat in the garden when we found out one of the members of the squad had tested positive, but we then found out that the rest of the squad were able to go about their business.
“I then got a call a few hours later saying that we had further cases; I was actually with my mum and dad in the garden and I had to kick them out of my house straight away, and the next six or seven hours were spent tracking and tracing.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s game, Last admits he is aware of the challenge ahead, while analysing West Yorkshire opponents Huddersfield.
“Sunday will be challenging. Due to the nature of the self-isolation over the last two weeks, the players haven’t even been able to go down to the local park for a run like they could in the national lockdown period. It has been a case of doing what they can with the equipment and space at their disposal.
On the Giants, he said: “Looking at what they’ve done this season and especially in those last two games, Simon has created a team that are working exceptionally hard for each other.
“The back five of Goulding, McGillvary, McIntosh, Wardle and Cudjoe makes them a dangerous side and they get them on the front foot, Their pack is hard working with the likes of Matty English, priding themselves on good line speed and aggressive contact.
“They’ve added some creative quality in Adam Seizer who has a great kicking game and knows how to get them around the park. They’re playing well and have been on the wrong end of the last two results in terms of performance, which will have disappointed them.”
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