John Cartwright has praised the courage and effort of his Hull FC side after Thursday night’s pulsating Super League draw with Leigh Leopards but has also slammed some of the game’s most controversial moments. The Black and Whites showed plenty of heart, grit, and determination throughout the contest, which ended 22-22 after golden point extra time failed to separate the two sides.

Airing the pride in his team post-match, Cartwright spoke with emotion after a heroic effort from his Hull team, who, at one stage, were down to 11 on 13 after two first-half sin bins, with his frustration also there to see after what was, in all honesty, a controversial, chaotic, and at times, complete and utter bonkers game of rugby league.

As well as the two sin bins for Aidan Sezer and Jordan Rapana, Cartwright also spoke of a controversial decision involving Tom Briscoe in the golden point period, with the captain’s challenge again proving inconclusive after Lewis Martin sent the game beyond 80 minutes with a last-gasp try, with Sezer then cruelly hitting the post with his subsequent touchline conversion, a play that could have won Hull the game in normal time.

“I’m drained,” Cartwright said post-match. “It’s hard to explain. Nobody likes to draw. You battle for 90 minutes and come out with an empty feeling. Ideally, you want to leave with that winning feeling.

“But I’m really happy with what I saw. You don’t really know what you’ve got until you’re under real pressure—and they were under real pressure tonight against a really good side who are undefeated, quality opposition, and who had a win over Wigan.

“I’m happy in that regard, but I suppose you can tell by the way I’m talking that it’s a little bit like backing each way—I don’t bet each way.”

Cartwright continued: “The kick right on the 80-minute mark looked in for all money. I was right behind it. Aidan does kick with a slight hook, but for some reason it went back the other way to hit the post.

“It just wasn’t meant to be tonight. Everything we did, they had an answer to. The game seesawed. Defending with 11 and 12 men and some things that went against us really drained us. We didn’t have a lot of energy to come up with much with the ball, but you can’t doubt their courage and their commitment.”

Opening up on the sin bins for Sezer and Rapana, Cartwright was left confused at the lack of ‘inconsistency from referee’ Tom Grant, who, in the head coach’s view, let similar Leigh high shots go, and elsewhere, a crusher tackle that was placed on report.

“I’m still trying to get my head around what constitutes a sin bin,” Cartwright said. “There was a couple after that where Leigh came up with a couple of high tackles, and they weren’t penalised.

“There was a crusher there that went on report but no penalty. I’m trying to get my head around the lack of inconsistency—it’s a big play to lose a bloke to the sin bin, not many teams win when they go down to 12 men. It’s a big disadvantage for a team to have 12 men, especially when I didn’t think there was a lot of force in either one. But they’re the rules.”

And as for Briscoe, Cartwright was even more bemused. He said: “I’m still trying to understand it because if his foot wasn’t on the line, it should have been play on, and if his foot was on the line, then it’s a penalty to us.

“I need to get clarification on whether they came up with the wrong decision. For me, that’s pretty black and white. If his foot is on the sideline, we get a penalty; if it’s not, it’s normal play on. I’m keen to get some clarity around that.

“I’m trying to take the officials out of it because it was such a spectacle. I hope I’m not sounding like I’m blaming the referee because I’m not. You go through a game, and there are a few decisions that you question, but as a team, you get hundreds of chances to get decisions right.

“I certainly don’t want to take away from that. My phone is absolutely full of messages from back home and full of compliments for our boys and the courage that they displayed. I don’t want to take away from the spectacle. It was a great crowd, and hopefully the people watching on tele are happy with what they saw.”

The contest itself shouldn’t be lost, with many twists and turns involving two fully blooded outfits. Hull showed so much spirit with both sides each having the quality to post points.

But sadly, it’s controversy that stands out, with Cartwright also commenting on the stoppages seen throughout the game and the lack of willingness from the video referee to make quick decisions.

He added: “I’m not sure if they’ve got the camera angles that they do overseas—I heard that maybe is a bit of an issue, but it seems like they’re just not willing to make a decision.

“It always gets referred back to the referee. I’m happy to just get rid of it. Most decisions go back to inconclusive, but nothing is conclusive—it depends on what angle you watch it at. You’ve just got to make a decision and move forward with it. I think everyone will be happy with that.”