THERE is something about the Giants playing Bradford Bulls that provokes a special reaction in the Barrow household.
The reason for this is that – apart from the fact there have been some great contests over the past decade – it was the Bulls who were in town when I first took my kids to watch rugby league.
Having been brought up in a family firmly committed to the 13-a-side code I suppose it was almost bound to happen – although having two daughters I wasn’t quite prepared for just how readily they would become big fans of the game.
The reason for heading to the Bulls match in March 2000 was that my youngest Emma had been given free tickets at school and was desperate to go and, with a buzzing crowd of over 7,000, she was instantly smitten.
Over a decade on and it is the one fixture that is a must on the calendar chez nous.
Being a teenager, there appear to be numerous other distractions these days for our Emma, but she still has a bedroom festooned with Giants flags, scarves and shirts and the derby clash against the Bulls of Bradford still remains a very special event.
However, what really has hit home to me as she enters her second decade as a rugby league follower is that this fixture just makes you realise how far the Giants have come in those 10 years.
We went to that Bulls game at the Galpharm with a friend of mine and his two boys who are Bradford fans and I did warn my two – my elder daughter Sara has also been a regular Giants watcher, particularly in the Robbie Paul era – that supporting Huddersfield might be a bit of a bumpy ride.
Certainly there was not too much for home fans to cheer that day as a Paul-inspired Bulls side walloped the Giants 60-2, but at the time that really wasn’t much of a surprise.
What is a surprise is that now we will be heading down to the Galpharm on Sunday with Emma not just hoping for a Giants win but expecting one AND in front of crowd that should be pushing five figures – which is the real measure of just what the club have achieved.
