In-form winger Jermaine McGillvary knows the Huddersfield Giants have to learn the lessons of their second-half Magic Weekend collapse against Catalans Dragons to guarantee a strong finish to their Super League season.
Huddersfield threw away a 16-0 lead early in the second half and needed a last-minute wonder try from McGillvary and magnificent Danny Brough touchline conversion to snatch a 22-22 draw.
It was a result which helped the Giants maintain fourth place in the top-flight table.
But McGillvary knows they might not get away with a late escape for a second time, and that a return to their first-half exertions for a full 80 minutes will hold the key to a home win over Wigan Warriors at the John Smith’s Stadium on Sunday.
“The message this week is ‘more of the first half and less of the second,’” said the 27-year-old powerhouse.
“We put ourselves in a great position to beat Catalans with the way we played in the opening 40 minutes, and to score early in the second half to make it 16-0 put us in a stronger position.
“What we should have done at that point was really turn the screw.
“Instead, there seemed to be this general feeling throughout the side when we led by 16 that we’d got the job done, which in hindsight was asking for trouble. In the end, we almost paid the ultimate price for that.
“As a result, we left the field knowing we’d thrown a point away.
“It was tough to take and we certainly don’t want a repeat again.
“Hopefully, we can build up a similar sort of lead against Wigan this weekend and make sure we’ve learned the lessons from last weekend. We definitely know where we went wrong in the second half against Catalans, and we’re looking forward to doing something about it.
“Even though we’re still in a strong position in the table, we know there’s still a lot of hard work to do to guarantee we stay in the top four and earn our place in the new Super 8s.
“No-one wants to finish out of the top eight, end up playing the Middle 8s and risk the possibility of being relegated into the Championship. If that’s the case, players’ livelihoods could be at stake.
“That makes winning games and qualifying for the Super 8s vitally important, and that’s why we’ve got to make sure we keep up picking up the wins. The stakes couldn’t really be much higher.”
And that’s why McGillvary acknowledges his match-levelling try against the Dragons was arguably the most important of his career so far.
“All the boys were saying at the end of the game that it’s the best try I’ve ever scored,” added McGillvary, who finished off in spectacularly athletic style after collecting Kyle Wood’s pinpoint long-range pass.
“But I disagree. I’ve actually scored far better ones in training!
“At the same time, I do know how important a try it was.
“With Broughy landing the touchline conversion – coming up with things like that shows why he’s our captain – it meant we ended up with what couple prove another very valuable League point.
“But we still all know it was a point lost and we don’t want that to cost us later on in the year.”
