Happy Paul Anderson knows the five Huddersfield Giants youngsters who turned out for Batley in their battling 10-4 Boxing Day derby triumph at Dewsbury will have benefited significantly from the experience.

Pete Aspinall, Ben Blackmore, Jake Connor, Josh Johnson and Nathan Mason all made valuable contributions on dual registration appearances in the Heavy Woollen success.

And Anderson fully expects the youngsters to reap the rewards.

“That was a good, physical, intense game, and that’s what the lads needed at this stage of their development,” said Anderson, who was a very interested on-looker from the Ram Stadium stands.

“Because they’d had just two training sessions before this game it couldn’t have been easy for them.

“But they all slotted in really well and didn’t look out of place at all. I’m very pleased with what they did out there.

“Batley and Dewsbury are good Championship sides, and you can’t put a price on how valuable this sort of experience is for young players who are wanting to further themselves in the game.

“We’re delighted Batley are in a position to expose our young players to this level of competition, and I’d like to think Batley are just as pleased to have them on board.”