Jermaine McGillvary grabbed a stunning hat trick of tries as the Huddersfield Giants made the perfect start to their 2014 campaign with an emphatic 24-8 triumph at champions Wigan Warriors.

Last season, coach Paul Anderson’s men opened their Super League campaign with an impressive 40-point destruction of St Helens.

And even though the margin of victory may not have been as big, this was still a massive statement of intent from the Super League Leaders’ Shield holders.

The men in claret and gold were in a different class from start to finish, and the only real complaint was that they didn’t win by a far higher margin.

Wigan suffered a massive blow an hour before kick-off when inspirational skipper Sean O’Loughlin failed a fitness test on a thigh injury.

And the Giants took full advantage of the loss of the Warriors’ main organiser to totally dominate the opening 40 minutes.

They were the better side, both on attack and defence, with the only Huddersfield gripe being the fact their interval lead was just 12-0, because it should have been twice as big.

It would have been bigger had Danny Brough not failed to land his three touchline conversion attempts or drop-goal effort on the stroke of half-time.

Yet that apart, Brough was inevitably in the thick of the action, being involved in the build-up to all three tries and landing an exceptional 40-20

However, the main man in the scoring of Brett Ferres’ opening try after five minutes was the England star himself.

Huddersfield Giants' Scott Grix scores his sides first try
Huddersfield Giants' Scott Grix scores his sides first try

His long pass sent Aaron Murphy clear and the winger kicked ahead for Ferres to follow up, collect and touch down.

It was a score ruled upon by video referee Steve Ganson, who also decided in the Giants’ favour for their second score 11 minutes later when Shaun Lunt stabbed the ball into the in-goal area for Jermaine McGillvary to get the vital touch in the nick of time.

McGillvary then doubled his tally in the 29th minute when Leroy Cudjoe’s long pass gave him a walk-in following some excellent Huddersfield approach play.

But a highly-accomplished first half ended on a disappointing note when Larne Patrick was stretchered with an ankle injury in the 39th minute.

The visitors looked as if they’d recovered from that injury setback a minute after the restart when Joe Wardle charged through, but the supporting Brough was unable to hold on to the potential try scoring pass.

And Wigan took full advantage of the let-off by cutting the deficit three minutes later when Iain Thornley finished smartly in the corner.

That margin was reduced five minutes later when Joe Burgess showed tremendous strength to finish in the corner.

Like Brough, Matty Smith also struggled with the conversions wide out, and Huddersfield were still 12-8 ahead.

And that advantage was back up to 10 points moments later when the Giants regained the ball from the restart and McGillvary finished strongly to complete a magnificent hat trick.

Brough finally landed the extras and an uneasy period had been ended.

But it wasn’t until the 71st minute that the game was in the bag when Brough shot through just inside his own half and fed the supporting Grix to finish and Brough added the goal.

Huddersfield Giants' Scott Grix scores his side's fifth try
Huddersfield Giants' Scott Grix scores his side's fifth try

See Paul Anderson's post match comments here