After such a fantastic win over St Helens, do you feel you can put your bad spell behind you?
We’d certainly like to think so.
But we all know the key is how we back-up after this game, that’s when we can start to think about if things are falling back into place.
Having said that, the performance against St Helens was our best for quite a while.
I thought our first 60-65 minutes against them was really good and, in the first 40 minutes in particular, the game was just what you’d expect when two quality sides play each other.
It was end-to-end with not much stoppage and the game was pretty quick.
And despite St Helens having their well-documented injury problems, we came into the game knowing it was going to be hard.
When you look at the side Saints fielded against us, they still had 11 internationals in their squad, the problem for them is obviously that the same position (half-back) keeps on getting hurt.
But as far as their outside backs and forwards go, they were still very strong, and it wasn’t that great a surprise they pushed us for such a long period in the game.
At the same time, we also know that when we next meet, St Helens will have different halves and will be even tougher to beat, and that’s another reason why this isn’t the time to be getting too carried away.
How disappointed were you with that spell towards the end of the game, and when it was won, when you conceded two relatively ‘soft’ tries?
There’s no doubt we did have a 10-minute period when we made a couple of errors and we were punished for that.
They were moments that underlined that our response and goal line defence is still not where we want to be if we are to keep on improving.
But, defensively, we did really well in the first half, the problem during that time was that our execution could have been a lot better. We scored two tries, but failed to take three other genuine chances that came our way.
As a result, this kept St Helens well in the game and they got off to a good start at the start of the second half.
Fortunately, we knuckled down tremendously well after they cut our lead to 12-6 and we were rewarded for our efforts.
How proud were you with the fact 16 of the 17 Giants players in action against Saints were English.
It’s very good for the club going forward.
They say the salary cap in Australia is going up to seven million, so the clubs over here certainly won’t be bringing many people from over there in another 18 months.
That obviously means the clubs with a lot more English players will be far better off than the clubs who are reliant on dodgy passports and all that sort of stuff.
Clearly the Giants have just shown we’re in a strong position in this respect.
And, from a personal note, I’d like to add how delighted I was that we beat St Helens in Super League.
Although we had a memorable win over them in the Challenge Cup, this is the first time we’ve beaten Saints in the League since I’ve been here. That’s something that also pleases me.
Although you ‘bombed’ some chances against Saints, there were some magical tries, weren’t there?
Yes, we did score some really good tries, which were great to see.
But these came off the back of some committed running and defence, and the way in which everyone was prepared to work hard for each other. That has always been the key to our success.
Hopefully, the manner in which some of these tries were scored will give us extra confidence and we can take that into the games ahead.
How pleased were you with 19-year-old Joe Wardle’s tryscoring display?
Joe’s been outstanding for us and made the team against St Helens on form.
I think we were all delighted to see him back up his Challenge Cup try at Batley with his first try in Super League, which was thoroughly deserved.
As I said, he’s played his way into the team and everyone saw why with his performance against Saints. He makes our best team for mine.
Joe’s now played four senior games for us and we know he’ll always come to play and come to win every week.
Against St Helens, he moved an international centre in Leroy Cudjoe onto the wing. What more can you say that .
It’s just a shame he’ll have to miss this weekend with a slight hamstring injury, but as soon as he returns he’ll certainly come straight back into contention.
As well as Joe picking up his injury, you’ve also lost Luke O’Donnell with four to six weeks with a more serious hamstring problem. It now looks as if you’re being hit on the injury front.
We’ve copped our fair share over the past few weeks.
As well as these two, we’ve got the likes of Keith Mason (knee), David Fa’alogo (hamstring) and Andy Raleigh (neck) on the sidelines, although they should be back fairly soon.
But, as I’ve said before, we can’t complain too much because every club gets injuries.
However, as St Helens have shown, if you work hard and the players stand up, you can get by. That’s the key.
It has been announced today that young hooker Keal Carlile is to undergo heart surgery next week to enable him to carry on playing. It must have been a tough time for him?
Yes, it has.
We knew when Keal had to come off at Castleford in the second game of the season that something wasn’t right.
It’s obviously taken a while to get to the bottom of the problem, but now we can get something done about it.
But that might not be much of a consolation for Keal at this time, particularly after the start he had made to his season.
He earned his place in the starting line-up for the first game of the season against Warrington in Cardiff on merit.
He marked the occasion by scoring our first try of the season in that match, and kept hold of his place at Castleford as a result.
So, let’s hope that after Keal’s had the surgery he comes back fitter and stronger than ever.
If he does, then it could still have a very brought Super League future ahead of him.
