HARLEQUINS coach Brian McDermott has praised former club Huddersfield for the way they snuffed out the threat from his young homegrown team to edge closer to the Super League play-offs.
McDermott, who was assistant to former Giants coach Tony Smith, admitted his side were second best on the day, but said the London club had their eyes more firmly fixed on the future.
Huddersfield were only 8-4 up at the break, but they ran in six tries in the second half against a Quins side featuring only one overseas player, Luke Dorn, for the third consecutive week.
McDermott said: “We expected there to be a wave in the second half, and so it proved.
“Huddersfield looked strong, and were unfortunate to be only four points ahead at half-time.
“Our completion rate was only 27%. That’s a ridiculous statistic.
“We don’t normally talk about completion rates, because our style is to get the ball and play it around. But Huddersfield got into us and stopped us playing.
“After 30 minutes in the second half, we hadn’t completed a set. We had a completion rate of zero. That’s a credit to Huddersfield for the way they played.
“But I’m immensely proud of our young players.
“People will look at the scoreline and think we got beaten pretty badly. But I don’t think the players did a lot wrong.
“In terms of where we want to be five years from now, the club is heading in the right direction, with a lot of good young players who have British and London accents.”
