Kruise Leeming knows new Huddersfield Giants head coach Rick Stone is lucky to have someone like Luke Robinson by his side.

A long-standing hip injury meant former Huddersfield hooker Robinson went from being a player at the start of the season to an assistant coach under Stone’s regime.

It’s a rapid promotion for Robinson, who was fully intending to be part of the 2016 playing campaign until he was told by a specialist he required immediate career-ending surgery or risk spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

But even though he’s new to a job – sharing the assistant coaches role with another former Giants player in Chris Thorman – Leeming knows his good friend and mentor will prove a major asset to the John Smith’s Stadium set-up.

“Robbo’s a good coach, there’s no doubt about that at all,” said the 20-year-old hooker.

Kruise Leeming, seen scoring against Catalans Dragons

“Because we’ve been teammates for a couple of years, people ask me if I find it strange being coached by him. The simple answer to that is ‘no’.

“To me, he’s always been my coach as well as my teammate, because he was my coach when I was playing as a junior at Siddal.

“So to see him join the Giants coaching staff has come as no surprise to me at all. I’ve known all along how good he is.

“He’s very clever and he’s very smart, and he’s great at getting his message across.

“But even though I look up to him and fully respect him, we’re still able to share in a fair bit of banter.

“That’s something we’ve always done, and I don’t think it’ll stop just because he’s got this new position – although I know I can’t take afford to step too far out of line!”