Danny Brough is confident the Huddersfield Giants are ready to rise to the occasion in tomorrow night’s ‘do or die’ clash at Wigan Warriors.
A victory for Huddersfield would secure them a first Super League Grand Final appearance at Old Trafford next Saturday (October 10).
Wigan are the favourites to win the massive DW Stadium encounter, with home advantage and the fact they’ve won all three fixtures between the two teams this year expected to give them the edge.
But despite the Giants needing to pick up the emotional pieces after last Friday’s heartbreaking 20-16 home defeat to newly-crowned minor champions Leeds Rhinos, Huddersfield skipper Brough is confident his side can travel across the Pennines and secure the biggest victory in the club’s Super League history.
“These games are the reason why you play rugby league,” said the 2013 Super League Man of Steel who helped the Giants lift the Super League Leaders Shield for the first time that year.
“It’s the semi-final of the Grand Final, so it’s do or die, there are no second chances.
“That wasn’t the case last week. Yes, we’d have love to have beaten Leeds, but the fact we didn’t wasn’t the end of the world.
“We were all gutted to lose that game, but that disappointment didn’t last too long at all.
“As soon as we’d had our say in the dressing room, it was straight down to planning for Wigan – the game that really matters.
“Our confidence hasn’t been dented at all by what went on against Leeds last week. We know we were good enough to win that game, and by learning from our mistakes we know we can put that right and win against Wigan.
“We will be going there feeling confident.”
Brough’s confidence has this week been further boosted by his selection in this season’s Super League Dream Team, alongside Giants teammate Jermaine McGillvary – with the captain believing his winger’s inclusion is thoroughly deserved.
“It’s really pleasing to get picked again,” added Brough.
“It’s a sign that you’ve been playing well and playing consistently all year. I think that apart from a couple of games when I’ve been fairly quiet, I’ve not had a bad year and helped set up a number of tries.
“And I couldn’t be happier for Jerry on his selection.
“He’s been absolutely outstanding towards the back end of the year, and I know how much he wants to put in another massive game again at Wigan.
“He obviously won’t be able to play to his full potential if the players around him aren’t doing the business.
“But if everyone contributes 100% then we know the likes of Jerry can shine out wide and we can win this one.
“We’ve never been to a Grand Final before, but we know this is a great opportunity for us to finally get there.”
