Hull FC's Fetuli Talanoa celebrates his try against Salford.
Hull FC laid down an early marker in Super League XXI with a comfortable 42-20 victory over Salford Red Devils at the KC Stadium on Friday.
Lee Radford's squad looked in good shape heading into the round one fixture and his new recruits did not disappoint in a dominant performance from the hosts. Leon Pryce and Josh Griffin traded early tries but the Airlie Birds never looked back after Mahe Fonua marked his debut with a try.
Fellow new boy Carlos Tuimavave rounded off the first-half scoring after Jordan Thompson and Fetuli Talanoa had given the Black and Whites breathing space. A bad night for the Red Devils got worse as Josh Bowden, Jack Logan and Jamie Shaul all crossed early in the second period. Junior Sa'u scored either side of Niall Evalds' effort to give the travelling Salford fans some cheer but Ian Watson's side were second best by a distance.
It took Hull just four minutes to get their season up and running as the scheming Danny Houghton found a hole in Salford's defence and gave Pryce a clear run to the line. The Red Devils slowly worked their way into the contest and drew level when Griffin took Sa'u's offload to touch down and then added the extras.
Former New Zealand back-rower Frank Pritchard was introduced and he was heavily involved in the build-up to Hull's second try which was again created by Houghton, whose well-weighted kick to the corner was collected and grounded by Fonua.
The Hull winger spurned an opportunity to double his tally when he failed to gather a loose ball but it mattered little as Thompson took former Salford prop Scott Taylor's pass to go in under the posts from the resultant scrum.
That try knocked the stuffing out of the Red Devils, who were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat after Tuimavave put Talanoa over in the corner before powering over himself minutes later.
The 26-6 half-time scoreline suitably reflected the opening 40 minutes and Hull picked up where they left off after the break, with Bowden the next to cross from Pryce's offload close to the line. Logan took Sika Manu's flick pass to get his name on the board and Hull broke the 40-point mark when Shaul collected his own kick to score.
Salford stemmed the tide courtesy of Sa'u's try after good work from Ben Murdoch-Masila but they found themselves down to 12 men when Tommy Lee was sin-binned for punching. The Red Devils dug deep to cross through Evalds and Sa'u again but Hull had long secured the points.
