MAKESHIFT Huddersfield Giants produced a battling display before going down 32-22 in the their opening pre-season friendly of the season at Castleford Tigers.

With so many senior players still on the sidelines this was always going to be a tough first test for coach Nathan Brown’s men.

However, there were still many positives to take from the contest ahead of Thursday’s trip to Wigan in their next pre-season outing.

Giants chief Nathan Brown sprung several selection surprises, with the most notable being Greg Eden at full-back and Scott Grix starting at scrum-half.

And Eden was one of four new boys in the run-on side, with Luke George on the wing, Tommy Lee at hooker and Jason Chan in the second row.

But the early signs for the new-look Giants were far from encouraging as Castleford raced into a deserved 10-0 lead after 11 minutes.

With Super League Man of Steel Rangi Chase pulling the strings at stand-off, the Tigers were over after their first attack in the third minute when former Giants hooker Ryan Hudson finished off a fine move.