BITTERLY-DISAPPOINTED Larne Patrick is confident the Giants can put their Challenge Cup heartbreak behind them and come back stronger in Super League.
Huddersfield’s dream of a trip to Wembley was shattered after their 22-18 quarter-final defeat at Castleford Tigers.
The 22-year-old forward admits the defeat was another hammer blow for the out-of-sorts Giants squad, with Huddersfield also struggling for form on the League front right now.
But Patrick is hoping yesterday’s defeat – a fifth straight away loss – can ultimately prove a blessing in disguise and a Cup exit will help re-invigorate their assault on Super League.
“This Cup defeat is really disappointing. We all felt down with the way things went,” he admitted. “What’s hit us as hard as anything is that we know we’re capable of doing so much more.
“Obviously Cas deserve a lot of credit for the way they played, they made it incredibly tough for us from start to finish.
“But everyone in the squad is fully aware that if we play to our full potential we have the ability to win things in both competitions.
“Unfortunately, that’s gone now in the Challenge Cup, so it’s down to Super League, and hopefully we’ll be able to re-double our efforts and get back to the sort of form we showed at the start of the season when we were top.
“Quite a few of the boys are carrying niggles at the moment, and not playing in a semi-final in a couple of weeks may do us a power of good.
“But that’s not much consolation at the moment, that’s for sure.”
Patrick was handed a rare start in the second-row and says that is a personal plus.
“I don’t get many chances to be in the starting line-up. Browny usually likes to use me more as an impact player off the bench,” he added.
“The fact I started shows Browny must have some faith in me, and I’d like to think I didn’t let him down.
“Although we didn’t make the greatest start, I still thought I got through some decent work, and I hope the coaching staff thought so too.”
