A golden chance

Jan 11 2008 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THE hammer blow of losing new signing David Hodgson for six months could signal a meteoric Super League rise for at least one Giants youngster.

That will be the hope of Huddersfield head coach Jon Sharp as he prepares to send his side to Hull for Paul King’s testimonial clash at the KC Stadium on Sunday (2.30).

With Great Britain winger Hodgson ruled out until July after suffering serious knee ligament damage in training, Sharp has been hit hard on the fringes.

As well as Hodgson, fellow Lions flier Martin Aspinwall will miss the start of the season following his knee reconstruction.

For that reason, the Galpharm chief has handed places in a strong 19-man squad to Danny Kirmond and Michael Lawrence, with a view to trying them out against quality opposition.

Kirmond recently joined the Giants from Featherstone Rovers where he was the club’s leading tryscorer in National League II, while Lawrence shone on the wing in November when England Academy secured a memorable victory over their Australian counterparts.

Experienced Rod Jensen and Shane Elford are now the favourites to start on the wings in the Giants’ massive Super League opener at home to Leeds Rhinos on February 10.

But while it also has to be assumed they will be in the starting line-up this weekend, it’s pretty clear both Kirmond (above, left) and Lawrence (above, right) will have the chance to show what they can do at the highest level.

“Losing David is a massive blow,” said Sharp. “It’s difficult to find any positives from such a bad piece of news, but I suppose it does leave the door open for someone else to force their way into contention.

“And that process gets under way at Hull.”

As well as the way Kirmond and Lawrence perform, there will be tremendous interest in new boys George Gatis, Luke Robinson and Paul Whatuira.

Gatis is ready for a run at hooker, with Robinson set to partner Kevin Brown at half-back for the first time since their days together in the Wigan Academy and Whatuira geared up for a debut at centre.

The two obvious omissions from this weekend’s squad are Paul Jackson and Stuart Jones, with the duo having already been told they will start in the pre-season game at Castleford the following Sunday.