All eyes on Warrington in cruncher

Sep 7 2007 by Chris Roberts, Hudd Main

HUDDERSFIELD Giants’ eyes will be firmly fixed on both of tonight’s engage Super League clashes.

With big play-off rivals Warrington and Hull in action, it could prove a crucial evening for coach Jon Sharp and his men.

Should Warrington lose at St Helens, then a win for Huddersfield at the Galpharm against Wakefield on Sunday would guarantee the Giants a play-off place for the first time.

And if Hull are beaten at Leeds, and the Giants win at the weekend, then Huddersfield would move up to fourth in the Super League ladder with just one game remaining.

That’s a clash at Hull KR next Saturday – it is now to kick-off at 7pm and not 6pm as originally thought – and, if Huddersfield were to win that as well, they would be guaranteed a home tie in their opening play-off fixture against the team finishing fifth the following weekend.

The outlook looks promising for the Giants, with Warrington, who have never beaten Saints under their coach Daniel Anderson, need to win at least one of their last two matches to avoid slipping out of the top six.

But coach Paul Cullen insists he has never contemplated keeping players back for their last match at relegated Salford.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “You cannot go to St Helens with that kind of mindset because your season could end under those kind of circumstances, psychologically.

“We will go to St Helens in the way we always go, to attack and to play football. If we are going to beat them, we’ve got to try and outplay them.”

Hull’s shock 42-6 home defeat by Hull KR on Sunday not only enabled their deadly rivals to stay up but obviously gave the Giants the chance to claim their fourth place.

But even though they back up tonight’s game at Leeds with a home fixture against third-placed Bradford, coach Peter Sharp is confident his team can rise to the challenge.

“Sunday was a bad day,” he said. “You have to take those bad days and turn them into good ones.

“We’re not guaranteed a top-six place yet, or anything else. We need at least a win and I don’t want us to leave it to the last game against Bradford.

“I want us to make the play-offs on the back of two wins against Leeds and Bradford.”