Giants fly the flag in bid to field the best of British

Jun 13 2009 by Roy Wright, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

In comparison, of those 15 British Giants’ players, a relatively healthy four were produced from the town itself in Eorl Crabtree, Leroy Cudjoe, Michael Lawrence and Andy Raleigh, while Paul Jackson was a product of the Giants Academy system, and Keith Mason hails from Dewsbury and Luke Robinson.

Giants chiefs are already hoping this is a sign of things to come, and that in the future at least half of the first-choice 17 can be filled with locally-produced players.

At this stage, that still remains something of a tall order.

But with the likes of Head of Youth Performance Damian McGrath and Player Performance Manager Pete Riding doing such great jobs, it’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.

And a further sign that the future is looking bright in terms of local talent development is the latest success on the Academy front.

In their last outing, coach Darren Fleary’s men notched up an excellent 34-24 triumph over Leeds Rhinos, despite Huddersfield having one of the youngest squads in the competition.

The Giants’ victory charge was led by Darren Lamb and Jermaine Akaidere, who both grabbed hat tricks, while Elliott Hodgson and Kris Harrop also scored tries. Danny Ansell added the only goal of the contest.

The bulk of that Under 18s side are locally-produced players, as are those who will be in action for the Giants in the Reserve Team Championship against Leeds Rhinos at Stanningley tomorrow (11.30am).

Coach Paul Cook’s side are currently third, and it would be something of a disappointment if the Giants didn’t chalk up a ninth win from 13 starts.