SEVEN days can be a long time in politics. It can seem even longer in rugby league!
Just a week ago, the under-fire Giants were left reeling after suffering a heavy 42-22 defeat at Hull KR to be unceremoniously dumped out of the Challenge Cup.
But seven days later, Huddersfield miraculously turned it all around as they thrashed the same opponents 50-16 to move up to 10th in the Super League table.
There were signs in that bitterly disappointing Cup defeat that the Giants were capable of producing some special stuff.
Their opening 20-minute spell was breathtaking, as too was their early second-half charge.
The problem was that coach Jon Sharp’s side seemed incapable of sustaining those periods of pressure for any great length of time, something they also failed to do against Warrington at Cardiff the week before.
Yet against Hull KR yesterday it was a totally different matter.
After conceding a sixth-minute Scott Murrell try, converted by Paul Cooke, the Giants turned on the heat to totally outclass their opponents.
Their attack was sharper, their defence was meaner and their enthusiasm stronger.
It was a completely dominant display, suggesting the Giants have it in them to mount a highly successful second half of the season.
And at the heart of their triumph was rising Huddersfield-born star Michael Lawrence, ably assisted by fellow former Newsome Panthers junior Leroy Cudjoe.
Full-back has obviously been the problem position for the Giants in recent weeks, with Rod Jensen paying the price with a run-out for the Reserves at the weekend.
But Cudjoe looked assured and very solid in his first-choice position and crowned an excellent display with his first try at Super League level.
There was enough in this latest showing to suggest a prolonged stay in the No1 position might not be out of the question, just like Lawrence already seems a regular fixture at centre.
Since making his season’s bow on the wing against St Helens in March, the 18-year-old simply hasn’t looked back.
In fact, he looks stronger and stronger with every game he plays, and his performance in outplaying New Zealand Test centre Jake Webster was a joy to behold.
Webster got little out of Lawrence in the cup last week, and he got even less out of him at the Galpharm. The way he skipped round Webster to set up Martin Aspinwall for the opening Giants’ try after 12 minutes was magical and, by the end of the contest, Lawrence had crossed for two tries of his own after great work from fellow impressive centre Paul Whatuira on both occasions.
It was a shame Luke Robinson’s touchline conversion attempt after Aspinwall’s score came back off a post.
But in the end that missed goal hardly mattered.
By the 17th minute, the home side had hit the front for the first time when more good work from Whatuira enabled Shane Elford to finish in style – again the conversion failed – and the Giants had a lead they never looked like losing.
More great work from Whatuira set up the position for Robinson to plunge over from dummy half, with Chris Thorman on hand to land the first of his seven goals.
And on the stroke of half time, Lawrence grabbed his first try after Whatuira’s initial 60m burst to make it 20-6.
After losing a 22-6 interval lead against Warrington two weeks before, it was far too early for the Giants to start thinking about celebrating.
But when John Skandalis crashed over from a short Robinson pass within two minutes of the restart, it looked as if this may just be the Giants day.
Ten minutes later that had been well and truly confirmed as two further tries were added.
In the 47th minute Whatuira and Elford combined to send Cudjoe racing over and five minutes later, a good Danny Kirmond break set up the position for Whatuira to score.
Thorman’s goals made it 36-6.
Two Rovers tries from Rhys Lovegrove and Peter Fox sandwiched between a well-taken close-range score from the powerful Andy Raleigh kept the visiting fans occupied.
But in the closing moments a Thorman penalty and Lawrence’s second try ensured this was a very good day to be a Giant!
We say...Jon Sharp, Giants Coach
I DON’T want to put any pressure on Michael Lawrence after the way he’s played again.
But we’ve known since he was 15 that he had fantastic prodigious talent and I’m seeing him improve from one week to the next.
I thought he was great against Matt King two weeks ago and he defended well against Jake Webster last week – and did the same again.
He’s going to be a fantastic player if the Gods shine on him and he remains injury free.
He’s got a fantastic attitude and is very professional.
On top of that, the guys that came in yesterday were also fantastic.
Danny Kirmond was absolutely brilliant, I’m really excited about him and there was also Leroy Cudjoe.
What’s also interesting is that our team yesterday contained 14 English players and just three overseas players. That must be some sort of record.
They say... Justin Morgan, Rovers Coach
I THINK the only positive I could take from this game was that it’s over!
I was embarrassed by the way we played. It was effortless, that’s the way I would sum it up.
And I would like to apologise to our 2,500 fans who made the trip and saw something like that.
But, at the same time, it’s also only right to praise Jon Sharp and his crew for the way they turned it around in a week.
Huddersfield have been having a tough time of it just recently, and I thought they were well beaten by us last weekend in the Challenge Cup.
However, they should be congratulated for the way they responded and for their belief and desire yesterday.
They had the desire to get to the ball first and the desire to defend. That’s what I had hoped to see from us.
But, in contrast, we lacked that desire and effort and that’s pretty hard to stomach.
All in all, a game for us to forget, but well done Huddersfield for turning it around so successfully.
