Paul Anderson has challenged his Huddersfield Giants to put in a complete 80-minute Super League performance at home to Widnes Vikings on Sunday.
Huddersfield secured their place in the play-offs with their convincing 36-18 win at Wakefield in their last outing 12 days ago.
The Giants blew their hosts away that day with a stunning opening 40-minute onslaught to storm into an unassailable 32-0 interval advantage.
But the fact Anderson’s men appeared to take their foot off the gas in the second period left a nasty taste in the head coach’s mouth, and he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to see a repeat when the Vikings come to town this weekend.
“That opening 40 against Wakefield was as good as any we’ve put in this season,” reflected Anderson, whose side remains firmly in the hunt to secure a top-four finish.
“We made only two errors throughout the first half, with one early on and the other just before half-time.
“But what I then saw in the second half really disappointed me.
“I know Wakefield had nothing to lose and played a lot better in the second half, but that still doesn’t excuse the way we played.
“It’s obviously my role as coach to get to the bottom of why this happened and do something about it, which is a process we’ve been going through since that game.
“We’ve shown how good we can be for 40 minutes, but the challenge now is to show everyone how good we can be for the full 80.
“If we do that then I know what a tough team we’ll be to beat, and hopefully Widnes will see that this weekend.”
Anderson knows he faces a big challenge himself ahead of Sunday’s fixture – in selecting a side.
All those who featured against the Wildcats are fit and available, while the absent Jodie Broughton (foot/ankle), Antonio Kaufusi (calf) and Ukuma Ta’ai (groin) have trained fully this week.
Leroy Cudjoe is also recovering well from a hip injury and a final decision on his fitness will be taken later in the week.
