Giants coach Nathan Brown Q&A

Feb 26 2009 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

New Huddersfield Giants chief Nathan Brown answers the questions of the day put to him by Examiner Rugby League writer Chris Roberts.

LEEDS take on Manly in the World Club Challenge on Sunday, with Australian club chief executive Grant Mayer describing Super League as a ‘second tier competition’. Do you agree with that, and who do you think will win?

IT’S not really up to me to say whether or not Super League is a second tier competition or not.

However, I believe that people who do honestly watch both competitions know where the English game stands against the Australian game.

And there’s no question the game is improving over here and there are a lot of good players in Super League.

On top of that, I do think Super League is great to watch.

But there’s no doubt that when it comes to the infrastructure and facilities between the two countries it’s chalk and cheese.

There’s certainly no comparison with Australia in terms of the respective size of the talent pools and the number of kids who play the game.

To be honest, I can’t get over how Super League is played in the summer but the young kids over here play their season in the winter.

I certainly don’t envy the kids here having to train and play in freezing cold conditions. It doesn’t seem a great way to encourage them to take up the game.

Going on to who I think will win, that’s a difficult one.

Unfortunately, I’m not privy to how seriously Manly are taking the game and how strong a side they’ll be fielding on Sunday.

At the same time, Leeds seem to be nursing their fair share of injuries.

If this game was played on an even keel, nine times out of 10 Manly would win.

But, as usual, the English side will go into the contest having played more trial games and more comp games, and that often proves crucial.