I agree, I thought we were poor for big chunks of the season (sometimes in victory, as well as in the big defeats).
We flatter to deceive with the ball at times, we go side to side too much, and Shaul still hasn't got that creative, try assisting side to his game that some of the other full backs in the league have.

For me, I would keep Shaul to backing up breaks in the middle and capatalising out of dummy half when the markers are not set. I would have Abdull at 13 as an extra pivot as our pack is big enough to lose a 'prop' playing in that position. Watts can still be told to run wider out where he had a lot of success this year.

Interesting year to say the least.

One of my main worries going into 2017 was whether we'd be able to backup 2016 with another decent year (looking back to 2005/6), and I think we have to be honest.

The obvious highlight was that won the cup again, back-to-back for the first time in our history, beating four Superleague sides along the way - including the league's top2. We turned in some really top class performances in the run, but that makes our league form even more frustrating.

We did manage to get into the playoffs again coming 3rd, albeit we should have had it sewn up long before then. That means we've got to each of the four major semi-finals in the past two years, the only club to do so.

But the league form as a whole was patchy at best, we'd seemingly not turn up for some games. Our ball-retention and discipline at times was dreadful and sides didn't have to do much to score. It's concentration & discipline, when we kept errors & penalties to a minimum, we were almost unplayable, it just didn't happen enough.

We've seem some massive improvements in certain players over the season like Carlos & Bowden. Watts I believe has emerged into a World class prop & Connor has been a great signing.

Shaul's game has been altered so that he's not used as a pivot anymore & we use the 13 instead, but I think that means our attack with ball in hand is a bit flat. That's the main area of improvement I want to see for 2018.

Overall I'd give it an 8/10








The league is getting much more competitive, albeit I think the standard is a fair bit lower than it used to be. I expect 2018 to be even closer.

Positives for for where
Our improved attacking play
Winning without key players
Backing up the cup win (Never since Iv'e been a Hull fan have we won two trophies 2005/2006, was the closest)
Young players
Better in the super 8's

Home form and big losses are a concern.

Overall more positive than negatives, but certainly things to work on, particularly with tow big losses on the player side.

I think we will be there or there about's next year, think we need to finish in the top two.

Grand final has to be the aim.

Agree with this. Only thing I want changing is consistency in the league. Leigh and Catalan defeats cost us dear, oooohhhh and a small result like BEATING FFFFING LEEDS!!!! 8 out of 10. Tie Connor down to 5 years, Abdul at loose forward, stop whining about Shaul, his performances in the latter stages were excellent. Ellis will be a massive hole to fill. I think Faraimo’s defence will help immensely, Fonua was a beast but his defence at times was poor, not sure he’ll succeed in the NRL but I do want him to. I’m not one to look back, so I’m looking forward to 2018 with great expectations, maybe the Double

I think we have had a great season winning the CC again. I'm a bit gutted about not getting to OT because I was confident we would make it.

I'm just very happy to see us playing with passion and improving year on year. I often think about the Hetherington/Agar era (it seemed like an eternity of shoite) and how good it is too see us heading in the right direction. I'm gutted we didn't make OT but I think we still have a lot of improvement. We are learning how to play without Ellis and with Radford coaching and Pearsons ambition, I don't see why we can't be more successful next year. Proud of our club at the moment

I look back on this season with a great deal of frustration. As the poem goes, when we were good, we were very very good. When we were bad, we were horrid!

Poetry on RLFANS! You can tell we are City of Culture

8/10 for me too, our attack has been better but still needs some work, Ellis will be a big loss but I think we have recruited and retained players to cope with it.

Be very interesting to see Ellis' first actions as Football Manager (or whatever his title is), Motu has helped us make some very astute signings. Would definitely look to get Connor contracted for 4 years or so, the next thing I'd like to hear is that Kelly has signed another contract, ideally 2+1 option or similar.

Any season that includes winning one of the few major trophies you can win,has to be regarded as a success.the home form is a concern for me.forgetting the cup win against cas at home,2 of hulls best home performances were when we were down to 12 men.most other home games we were average win or lose.

Next year is going to be a lot more difficult then this . Wigan wire and saints will all improve but I can't see wakey and Salford matching this seasons form . But our biggest problem is seeing how we cope without 2 of our better and most important players apart from the halfs in Ellis and Fonua . 2 massive loses !!

To win one out of two trophy's imo is a success. To think where we've come from in 3 years is fantastic. Back to back Wembley wins history making. 2 semi finals and 2 third places really good. Can we get better yes we can but we've gotta enjoy the remarkable success we have achieved. These special times don't come round a lot. We have gotta build on this and be in the mix again next year. We lose fonua and Ellis but gain Micky Hadley abdull and fauima. I've loved being a fc fan these last 2 years

last season when we had this discussion i said we needed a halfback and the club made it happen in the end bringing in Kelly.
For next season i think we are short of a Masila/Mcmeeken type stong and fast second row.
For that to happen we would have to release one or two players.
Thompson for instance is now being left behind although given opportunities he hasnt taken them.
Dean Hadley undoubtably will shore up the defence but is not an attacking second row and will take on the role of Washbrook which really means we could also if necessary release Washbrook.
A new strong fast second row with Watts at 13, Bowden starting prop with Taylor and a bench of Paea,Green,Mini and Hadley.
I also hope the club give Connor a run at right centre rather than moving him about.
The arrival of Miloudi who has pace and is a very competent half back or full back could see him cover those positions rather than moving Connor.
Only problem is his temperament.

There are still areas for improvement but it has been up there with the best despite the disappointments.

The bad

Inconsistency and some big scorelines against. I know you can't win them all but conceding 40 or 50 points in a game is not on.
Home form - its hardly fortress KC at the moment. I felt more confident when they played away and that really shouldn't happen. What's more poor shows at home are not going to help attendances grow.

The good

The cup of course - what Wembley hoodoo?
Maintaining the standard set in the previous season, Wigan & Warrington couldn't do it, Warrington spectacularly so. Its important that this revival in fortune keeps on track, too many times in the last 30 years we have seen an upturn fizzle out rapidly.
Signs that the team can win without Ellis (though he will be a huge loss).

Overall its been good, perhaps not quite as good as 2016 because it was that elusive first Wembley then and it had the added bonus of the MPG to keep the joy going but I can't say I'm disappointed.

I realise next year will again be a tough job and I won't go in with any expectations of silverware but the team is in decent shape and as long as the spirit and effort is maintained there are at least realistic hopes of some good days.

Our expectations have risen because of the CC wins, because we have a great squad of players, because we are passionate and want to win and when we get a sniff we do feel disappointed when we don't get everything we want. I think we've had a good season, with the squad we have, one that is even better than last seasons, there should be an expectation to be in it for silverware at the pointy end.

Connor has being a revelation, Kelly has being at times sublime, Sneyd has proven his doubters wrong and has improved IMHO, young players like Fash have come through to show they are worthy of a place in the 17 and some performances were absolutely top drawer against the top sides in the league (Cas in the CC and home league game plus Leeds in CC)
Radford has learnt that rotating players is an absolute must, injury or not, that was what cost us last year ultimately, that and the post wembley headache, he changed that this year and acknowledged early on (In the pre-season friendlies) that he needed to involve the younger squad players more and trust to them.
At times in attack we've looked fantastic, at time in defence we've being brutal.

So, all that said, why have we been so far off the pace of Cas and massively inconsistent? Too often our discipline has let us down, too often the mental preparation seems nonexistent, too often we put in really poor performances especially at home, not because we don't have the ability or personnel, but because we didn't turn up or just lapsed for long periods. That is as much down to the coach as it is the players.

Too often our line speed in defence is shockingly slow, too often we are missing tackles (worst in the league for it by a big margin), too often giving away posession, we made the 3rd highest amount of tackles, only just behind salford and saints), we made too many errors, 2nd only to Saints. Too often we look short of ideas in the 20m and are relying on a kick, we were very low down in the tries scored dept (7th I think) and Sneyd's goalkicking has won us a heck of a lot of games. catalans are the only other side to kick more goals than tries scored (just one in their case).

Given everything and how we were going to push on and with a better rounded squad than last year I think its a 7.5/10 season, as I said though, our expectations are higher now so if we had gone from doing nothing to winning the CC and being so close to getting the league leaders and GF appearance like last year then that score would be higher..
Some things are very good, some aspects have improved but there are still the same problems rearing their head that means the difference between being CC winners and 3rd place to being at the top table for both.