WITH the sun on his back, a firm ground under his feet and the sight of Daniel Holdsworth running alongside him, Kirk Yeaman had a smile on his face this week.
Yeaman's season echoes the frustrations of his club this year.
With a big year planned, a thumb injury put paid to his opportunity to make a mark, ruling him out for six games and, as he readily admits, he's yet to hit his best form.
Two games back from a lay off, Yeaman has the bit between his teeth again – revitalised like his team by the return of Hull's stand-off and the warmer weather, which has brought the chance for Hull to be more expansive.
Often starved of service this season, Hull's left side of Yeaman and Tom Briscoe has been eclipsed by the right side of Ben Crooks and Tom Lineham, who have 19 Super League tries as opposed to the left side's four.
But with his fitness improving and a chance to play in a settled side offering more stability, Yeaman is bullish about the immediate future.
"Being out in the centres, you want the faster pitches and you want to get your hands on the ball. The past couple of months we haven't had the best weather but hopefully we can start throwing the ball around a bit and start creating a few more chances," Yeaman told the Mail.
"There's never been any real combinations going. There have been different half-backs, different back-rowers and different centres every week, so hopefully we can start building a few combinations now together for the back end of the season and hit some form.
"It's been a bit patchy for myself. I did my thumb which was very disappointing.
"I've been back two games now and managed to get a hat-trick on my return but it is the Super League games I want to score in.
"The more I get into it, the more games I get under my belt and the fitter I am, then I'm sure the tries will come. The tries are just a bonus on top of the two points, that's the main thing."
Scoring tries has never been an issue for Yeaman, who currently has 148 for Hull.
Two tonight will take him to the special 150 figure, and elevate the one-club man to seventh in the all-time try-scoring list for Hull.
Eager to focus on the team and not his own personal goals, scoring points remains the priority, no matter who is awarded the try.
But, as Yeaman explains, any thought Hull can take scoring points for granted has been dispelled.
"We have to earn the right to score points," adds Yeaman. "We can't just turn up and expect to start running in the points.
"We have to build pressure, it's no given we will turn up and score points, but I'd like to think with it starting to dry out we can start throwing the ball around a bit more."
Keeping teams out has been an issue for London all season, but despite sitting towards the bottom of the ladder, Hull know they cannot afford to take their opponents for granted.
A little over a month ago Hull laboured to an 18-18 draw in the capital, coming from behind thanks to late tries by Joe Westerman and Richard Horne to salvage a point.
"We went down there a few weeks back and we managed to scrape away with a draw. The conditions were horrendous," said Yeaman.
"I didn't play but from what I saw and what the boys told me it was one of the worst pitches they've played on
"London are going all right at present. They have had a couple of good wins and have been unlucky in a couple so we know we will have to be on the money to get the two points."
Hull were "on the money" last week but came away empty handed against leaders Wigan.
It was a performance to offer plenty of positives if not any points. Matching the Warriors in every department, Hull showed their potential.
Consistently matching it is now the target and Yeaman believes last week's display has given them the confidence to do that.
"We can take a lot of confidence out of last week," said Yeaman. "There were things we did well and others we could have done better.
"If we can knock the few things we didn't do well on the head and concentrate on doing the little things right, hopefully we can start pulling together as a team and hitting some real form.
"We knew we were going to be in for a game on Friday and we played for the full 80. It just goes to show that when we do turn up we can compete with the top two teams.
"We are in the eight now and we want to stay there. We are not looking back now, we are looking forward.
"With a few more experienced bodies back, and if we can put a bit of form together, hopefully we can climb the table."
