Agar selection headache is nice dilemma
HULL FC coach Richard Agar says his side’s strong pre-season performances have left him with a selection headache ahead of Super League’s big kick-off.
The Black and Whites completed their warm-up games for the new season with a comprehensive 46-18 win at Championship side Sheffield yesterday.
The game marked the return of centre Kirk Yeaman, who crossed for two tries, and Mike Burnett, who impressed off the bench.
And with Danny Washbrook winning praise from his coach for his performance at scrum-half, many players are pushing for a place come the trip to St Helens on February 6.
Hull raced into a 34-0 half-time lead, crossing for six tries before a more evenly-contested second 40 minutes.
And although slightly disappointed that his side let their standard slip after the break, Agar was in an upbeat mood.
“I thought we were very good across the board in the first half,” he said.
“The tempo, our shape and the variety in our play was very good, as was our control of the ruck and our defence.
“The challenge for us was to keep it going for the second half, which we didn’t quite manage to do, but we will take positive lessons out of that.”
With less than two weeks to Super League, Agar’s squad is free of injuries.
Now his only problem is selecting his 17 for that first league game, a problem he is delighted to have.
“One of the pleasing things is that we have a couple of selection headaches for the first round at St Helens and I still haven’t decided what team I will have,” Agar said.
“Some chaps have really stuck their hand up. I was really impressed with Danny Washbrook’s first-half show, he was excellent.
“Jordan Turner has done some really good stuff over two games and so has Richard Whiting.
“All the middle men have hit the ground running, Kirk Yeaman looked particularly sharp and Lee Radford again played with great vigour.
“Ewan Dowes put in a good performance and I thought Mike Burnett looked great on the edge with some strong carries, so you couldn’t discount him.”
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