This has to be low point: Eorl

May 26 2008 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

BIG Eorl Crabtree admits Saturday’s 48-0 Super League thrashing at Catalans is one of the low points of his Giants career.

And he has revealed it was an emotion felt by many members of the squad immediately after their eight-try defeat in Perpignan.

“Our dressing room at the end of the game was not a good place to be,” said the 25-year-old prop.

“Personally, I felt angry and upset, and I know that’s how everyone else felt as well.

“To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I felt so gutted at the end of a game. I would have to say it must go down as one of the lowest points of my career.

“No-one likes losing, especially in circumstances like this.

“But it makes it even worse when the fans have had to come such a long way to watch it. That really hurts.

“I’m absolutely gutted for them, because I know what they’ve been going through. I’ve been there.

“As well as being a Huddersfield Giants player, I’m a Huddersfield Giants fan and I’m proud of being from the town. I supported the club as a boy.

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about this game now, it’s gone.

“But we can do something about it in the weeks and months ahead.

“We, as a group of players, need to get it right among ourselves.

“Although the coaching staff often cop so much of the flak, it’s ultimately down to us to put things right, and that’s what we fully intend to do.

“We’ve got to put this massive disappointment behind us and start working harder than ever before to put it right.

“That’s what everyone deserves.”

A lack of effort in the South of France could be blamed as one of the reasons for the defeat.

But that’s not a view shared by Crabtree.

“Take it from me, everyone was giving 100%, it just wasn’t working for us,” he added.

“No-one was making mistakes on purpose, because making a mistake is one of the worst feelings in the world.

“It’s just that when things just aren’t happening for you, things just seem to snowball out of control.

“Sometimes you just try too hard and that adds to the pressure. I think there was a bit of that at the weekend.

“But we know if we remain strong as a group, we’ll eventually come out stronger the other side.”