Ryan Brierley's defensive improvement could hold the key to whether he retains his place in the Giants’ home Middle 8s clash against London Broncos next Friday.

The in-form half-back produced a man-of-the-match performance in Huddersfield’s 58-28 triumph at Batley Bulldogs by scorching over for a hat-trick of tries.

That came after he and half-back partner Jamie Ellis had guided their side to a 62-16 home stroll over Featherstone Rovers the way before.

Those victories were achieved while first-choice stand-off Danny Brough was serving a two-game suspension.

And head coach Rick Stone admits Brierley’s ever-improving all-round game means an immediate return for Brough can’t be taken for granted.

“Ryan once again handled the ball well and was an important player for us,” said Stone.

“It’s clear for everyone to see what a really good attacking player he is. His support play is terrific and his ability to put himself in a position to score a try on the back of breaks is outstanding.

Huddersfield Giants' Ryan Brierley charges up the field to score his team's final try and complete a personal hat trick. Picture by John Rushworth

“On top of that, he’s also getting better defensively, which is probably something he needed to do.

“At this stage, he still needs to do better in regard to this part of his game.

“But he is working tremendously hard and there’s no doubt he’s starting to reap the rewards of his efforts.

“And there’s also no doubt his performances over the past couple of weeks were exactly what I was looking for. I wanted him to make the half-back selection for the London game as tough as possible for us, and that’s just what he’s done.”