Giants chief Paul Anderson has praised the way Jamie Ellis has stepped up to share the goalkicking duties.
With Danny Brough carrying a couple of slight niggles, Ellis has made himself available to ease some of the captain’s burden.
After landing one conversion against Warrington and one at Widnes, the 25-year-old was the main kicker at St Helens on Friday night, landing five conversions from six attempts, several of which were struck from the sidelines.
Ellis did, crucially, miss his final attempt – and arguably one of the easiest – as Saints secured a 35-34 victory with Luke Walsh’s 78th-minute drop goal.
But if Brough – who also missed with a 74th-minute penalty attempt from the half-way line at St Helens – re-assumes the role at Catalans Dragons on Saturday, Anderson has made it clear that’s no reflection on Ellis.
“Danny’s obviously our dominant kicker and our captain, and that’s why he chose to have a go for that late penalty attempt at Saints. I backed him all the way with that decision,” said Anderson.
“But at the same time, Jamie’s also shown he’s a good kicker, as well as being a good player.
“It’s important to have more than one very good goalkicking option, and Jamie gives us that, although we’ve also several others besides.
“It was just Sod’s law the other night that after striking the conversions from all over the field he seemed to lose his concentration a bit for that last effort.
“But we’ve already seen how valuable a goalkicker Jamie can be for us.”
