The Huddersfield Giants head coach answers the questions put by Examiner RL Writer CHRIS ROBERTS
IS the mood in the club a lot more positive after moving off the bottom of the Super League table with
Friday’s home win over Leeds Rhinos?
The mood within the club has always been relatively upbeat, despite such an awful start to our season.
Feeling sorry for ourselves would have achieved absolutely nothing.
But everyone was obviously
delighted to have secured the win last Friday night.
Not only has it lifted us off the bottom of the table, it was also our second win in the last three games, and that’s clearly something positive to build on.
Yes, we were delighted with the events of last Friday night, but the key now is to make sure we don’t fall in love with ourselves.
However, we have still got a lot of hard work ahead of us to allow that to happen.
The last thing we want to become is a team that wins one, loses one, wins one, loses one etc etc.
We want to become a team that wins on a consistent basis, and to achieve that we need to keep working as hard as ever.
Fortunately, that’s something everyone is now doing.
We are finally starting to achieve a higher completion rate – that was crucial in helping us secure the wins over Warrington and Leeds, and brought us so close to victory at Wigan – and I know that when we stop conceding the one or two ‘soft’ tries we’re still doing, then we’ll get even better.
There’s no doubt the signs are all positive.
ONE of the big positives during these tough times is the emergence of youngsters like Josh Johnson , Nathan Mason and Oliver Roberts. How valuable have these Super League experiences been for them?
They’ve been absolutely massive.
I can’t fault any of the young blokes who have come into our Super League side and, in terms of their development, this season is proving invaluable for them.
They’re all showing they are talented enough to compete at this level.
And I think we can add to the Josh, Nathan and Oli list the likes of Sam Wood, Darnell McIntosh and Jake Wardle, who are others who are being exposed to some Super League
experiences a little earlier than expected.
Of those three, Sam may be the only one so far to have stepped onto the Super League stage, but just being around the senior squad on a daily basis will help them tremendously.
Jake came very close to playing against Leeds last week after being named in the 19-man Super League squad for the first time, and there’s a chance he could figure this week as well. He’s progressing exceptionally well.
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ALTHOUGH Jake’s only 17 and has a lot to learn, do you believe he can be as good as his older brother Joe?
They’re very different people and very different players.
But there’s no doubt he has the potential to be just as good.
The fact he’s already earned himself a place in our 19-man squad at such a young age underlines the fact that he’s a very, very good player.
Jake’s got an excellent attitude and works really hard in everything he does, so he’s certainly giving himself every chance to follow in his brother’s footsteps.
Everyone’s following his progress very closely indeed.
TURNING to tomorrow’s home Challenge Cup tie against Leeds. Do you feel this is a welcome distraction at just the right time?
Having won our last two out of three in Super League, you could argue that it would be good to try and keep up the League momentum we’re now starting to generate.
But, at the same time, preparing for a big Challenge Cup tie is always exciting.
There are very few of us in this club who have been lucky enough to experience victory in a Challenge Cup final.
It’s just Broughy and me.
A number of others have played in a Challenge Cup final with the Giants but have been beaten, and I know how much they’d love to get back to Wembley and win.
That’s something this squad is more than capable of achieving, because we know we can beat anyone on our day.
But let’s worry about beating Leeds first!
