Huddersfield Giants coach Paul Anderson believes Hull KR could provide just the test his players need ahead of the new Super League season.
Tomorrow’s John Smith’s Stadium clash (3.00) will be Huddersfield’s only pre-season hit-out before the new campaign.
Because of the cancellation of the Giants’ first planned trial test at Wakefield last week due to a waterlogged pitch, Anderson was anxious to face a strong test against the Robins this weekend.
And with Rovers boss Craig Sandercock having now confirmed he’ll be fielding as strong a side as possible, Anderson is relishing the challenge ahead.
“This will be a good test for us, and after the cancellation of last weekend’s game that’s exactly what we need,” said Anderson.
“I think they’ve recruited well; with the likes of Ben Cockayne, Neville Costigan, Kris Keating, Jamie Langley, Justin Poore and Michael Weyman having been signed. They are all very experienced players who will really test us.
“They’ve got a lot of new combinations, so they’ll be a whole new team, and I expect a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm from them.
“That’s what we want to face.”
The Rovers game is just six days before the Giants’ Super League opener at Wigan Warriors.
But after a demanding week of training to make up for the Wakefield postponement and the potential of a big challenge from Hull KR, Anderson is hoping his players will be in the perfect shape for the trip to the DW Stadium.
“Not having a game last weekend was far from ideal,” added Anderson.
“But we did use our time wisely.
“We had two choices. We could either pack up and see everyone on Monday or we could try and replicate the game, the soreness and the intensity so we could just roll into a normal week.
“We decided to do just that and split the group. One went with Greg Brown and did an off-feet conditioning session, while the other group was with myself and (assistant coach) Kieron Purtill doing a contact wrestle session.
“You could tell the players were focused on it being game day, and there was a lot of intensity shown.
“Judging by the responses from the players we managed to replicate that game soreness. So even though the game was called off, Sunday wasn’t a complete waste of time for us and we will take that into this game against Hull KR.”
Giants: Grix, McGillvary, Cudjoe, Wardle, Murphy, Brough, Robinson, Crabtree, Lunt, Kopczak, Ferres, Bailey, Lawrence, Patrick, Faiumu, Ta’ai, Wood, Broughton, Kaufusi, Mullally, Johnson, Aspinall, Mason, Blackmore, Connor, Leeming, Miller.
