THE Giants have been warned they could be in for a testing time in their opening home game of Super League XVIII.

Huddersfield get their 2013 campaign under way at St Helens on Saturday, February 2 before hosting London Broncos at the John Smith’s Stadium eight days later.

Head coach Paul Anderson’s men will go into that clash against the capital club as favourites to triumph, with the Broncos having finished third bottom of the top-flight table in 2011 with seven wins from 27 games.

But the arrival of head coach Tony Rea for a second spell in the middle of last season sparked a mini on-field revival – they won four of their last five fixtures – and have recruited strongly for 2013 in a bid to maintain that momentum.

Those signings include former Giants utility man Tommy Lee, as well as the retention of all of last season’s leading players.

They have also seen an upturn in sponsorship, which has clearly bucked the current trend.

As a result, highly-rated Australian Rea believes the club has the potential to be the biggest in Super League.

And he is keen to get that message across with some strong early-season performances.

“The whole reason of being in London is we can be the biggest,” he said. “We should be and will be the biggest. At the moment we’re not that. We are quite a distance from that.

“It’s tough to bring a sport into a big city. It’s hard to bring the message, get the people and compete.

“If we can get through those things and come out the other side it will be due to the persistence and resolve of everybody involved in rugby league.

“I’m really encouraged with the way things are coming together and I’m confident we’ll be extremely competitive next season.