Ian Watson sees Huddersfield Giants pass mentality test as Tony Smith blasts 'embarrassing' Hull FC

With the hope of the play-offs gone, the Giants fought hard in the first half before ripping Hull apart in the second half to cruise to a 52-20 Super League victory.

Watson said: “It’s a great result off the back of some of the adversity we’ve faced this year.

“We did some of the simple things really well which put us in a good position in that game and you saw our mentality in the second half that we were eager to win.

“Going forward, we want to be a side that’s known for putting in effort every single week. That’s been questioned at times this year and we want to get away from that and I thought coming to Hull today was a big test of our mentality.”

Watson was particularly happy with the spine of his side, led by former Hull man Jake Connor, who tormented his old team in a fine display.

He continued: “Jake Connor wasn’t just about this season but about us building going forward.

“Over the last eight weeks he’s started to find his feet and he’s been improving, and I think he, Tui (Lolohea), Will (Pryce) and (Adam) Milner did a great job for us.

“I thought our end of sets and kicking game were a big difference between the sides. Our kick chase was really strong and that allowed us to win field position.

“We had a plan of how to attack Hull but our players went out and executed it really well.”

Hull boss Tony Smith pulled no punches after the game, lamenting his side’s poor game management and inability to play direct.

He said: “It was embarrassing and we apologise for a performance like that. It was nowhere near the levels we need to be to win a game or deserve the respect of our supporters. It was a tough watch.

“I thought in the first half we played in our own half far too much. We scored one from deep and that’s when we ran directly.

“That was the blueprint of how we needed to play, and we just didn’t come up with that. We went sideways and passed the ball when we should have run, and we paid a pretty hefty price for our tactics in the first half.

“Huddersfield were good in the second half, and we capitulated in certain areas. If we make errors, we should be able to soak them up and we weren’t able to, that shouldn’t happen.”

Smith conceded his side are still showing characteristics he would like to eradicate at the club, and it was up to him to resolve these issues for the final game of the year against Saints and into 2024.

“Some of the lessons that we’re learning are the harsh ones but we need to learn them so we can make significant changes about how we carry ourselves through the season because we haven’t been able to address some things and we need to as the badge deserves more,” he added.