Match report: Catalans 8 - 30 Giants

Feb 16 2009 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

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HEROIC Huddersfield Giants turned on the power and the pace to destroy Catalans Dragons in a fantastic opening to Super League XIV.

It was a far cry from the events in the South of France last May as the visitors simply crumbled in the face of ferocious opposition to be humiliated 48-0.

This time it was the Dragons who were left licking some gaping wounds as the Giants, under new coach Nathan Brown, made their Super League intentions crystal clear.

It’s obviously very early days and it’s hard to read too much into one performance against opponents who were caught short by having their two main pre-season run-outs cancelled by the heavy storms that hit France last month.

But it’s already easy to see that Brown’s Giants are fitter, faster, stronger and hungrier than any of their predecessors, and that Saturday’s Valentine’s Day Massacre could be a taste of things to come.

And ‘massacre’ is not too strong a word, even though a 30-8 final scoreline might suggest Catalans produced some stiff French resistance.

In truth, it was only in the opening 15 minutes and on the back of a 6-0 penalty count that the Dragons made a real fist of it.

Had the hosts scored a try during their early period of dominance rather than having to settle for a solitary Thomas Bosc penalty, it may have been a different story.

But having found it impossible to break through a rock-solid defensive line – the ferocity of the tackling really was a joy to behold – the Giants seized the initiative and their hosts simply had no answer.

From the moment impressive livewire hooker Scott Moore fed the equally imposing Simon Finnigan to crash over for a debut try, converted by fellow new signing Brett Hodgson, to make it 6-2 after 18 minutes there was only going to be one winner.

With former Australian Test prop Jason Ryles already off the field after being shaken to the core by a massive ‘hit’ by Darrell Griffin, aided by Moore, the Giants slowly began to win the physical battle.