entle: No Room For Distraction On Catalan Trip

Hull Fc Thursday 6 Jun 2013 12:13pm

Hull FC will not fall into the trap of treating this weekend’s trip to Perpignan as a holiday and will instead focus on having a job to do, according to head coach Peter Gentle.

The squad fly out to the south of France today ahead of Saturday’s clash with a Catalan Dragons side sitting just one place below the Black and Whites on the Super League ladder.

And with the two teams separated only by points difference after 17 rounds, Gentle admits it will be a tough test for his in-form side and says it is important the Airlie Birds travel in the right frame of mind.

He told www.hullfc.com, “Part of the toughness of the trip to Catalan is that you can fall into holiday mode. You go over there to sunshine and it is a big distraction.

“You’ve got the pool and you are in a resort so you can fall into that trap, but we are going over there to do a job, not to get a sun tan.

“We’ve spoken about it long and hard this week. I don’t think this group will be guilty of that but we have spoken about it and I’m very happy that we are going over there for the right reason.”

The Black and Whites travel to face the Dragons on the back of a run of form that has seen them pick up nine wins from their last 10 matches, the most recent an impressive 18-6 victory over defending champions Leeds Rhinos at the KC Stadium on Friday.

However, the Airlie Birds last beat Catalan on their own ground back in 2010 and Gentle admits the Hull pack will be vital in picking up the two points against a side he describes as very similar to his own.

Gentle added, “They’ve got a good squad and there’s a lot of similarities between the two teams not only on the competition table but in the strength of their forwards, the speed in the backs and in their good halves.

“It will be a good test for us and winning the battle through the middle will be crucial. Our forwards always give us a foundation to play from and if they can match the Catalan pack or better still get on top of them, it brings our backs into the game.

“If you win that forward battle, it gives you a leg up in terms of what you want to do on the back of that. It’s about being ruthless, relentless and disciplined in what we do and it will be no different this week.”

Source: hullfc.com