Proud Huddersfield Giants boss Paul Anderson has admitted the pre-season performances of some of the club’s younger players has been one of his personal highlights.
A sprinkling of Huddersfield’s rising stars were given the chance to shine in the club’s two Super League warm-up clashes at Hull KR and at home to Catalans Dragons.
Both matches ended in victory - 38-6 on the east coast and 26-16 against the French - with all of the younger players showing they could have something to offer on the senior stage.
Those included 18-year-olds Darnell McIntosh and Sam Wood, who have spent much of the winter training with Anderson’s squad and are pushing to earn full-time Super League contracts.
And the John Smith’s Stadium boss has conceded neither winger McIntosh or centre/back-row forward Wood let anyone down when they had the chance to play in the last 10 minutes of both trial run-outs.
“I was really pleased with the way the younger end of the squad played in the trials,” said Anderson.
“They’ve all had really big pre-seasons and can be proud of the way they’ve played over the past couple of weeks.
“Those who have played just a handful of Super League games for us so far looked pretty comfortable out there, while I think it’s only right for me to single out Darnell and Sam for their efforts.
“They’re relatively new to this environment, but did well for us at Hull KR the other week and definitely built on that the following week against Catalans.
“I was delighted for them.”
