Ryan Hinchcliffe believes he has “unfinished business” with Huddersfield Giants and would love to stay another year under new coach Simon Woolford.
The 33-year-old lock and hooker was actually a playing colleague of Woolford’s at Canberra Raiders, when he was starting out in the game and Woolford was an established star.
Hinchcliffe, who went on to sparkle at Melbourne Storm before joining the Giants in 2016, has been impressed with the new head coaching appointment and the upsurge in form at the John Smith’s Stadium.
“I haven’t spoken to him (about the future) because he only landed here on Friday and I thought I’d give him chance to get over the jetlag,” said Hinchcliffe, who is keen to book a place in the semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup against Catalans Dragons.
“I will sit down and have a bit of a yarn with him on what he’s thinking about the squad and whether I will be part of it or not, so we will have a talk over the next week or so.
“At this stage I think I would probably like to stay.
“It’s been a bit of a tough three years at stages and I feel I’ve still got a bit of unfinished business here.
“And with what’s happened during the last month, I do honestly feel with the people we’ve got involved, there are some good things to come from us and I want to be a part of that.
“So, at this stage, it’s a conversation to have and we will see where it goes.”
Hinchcliffe remembers being on the Canberra roster with Woolford, and also playing against him in the NRL.
“He was a grubby little hooker!” smiled Hinchcliffe.
“He was a tough little player, a creative No9 and he was captain at the Raiders when I was playing reserve grade for a couple of years, so I’ve known him quite a while.
“I trained with him quite a bit and he was a good man to learn off when I was trying to learn my trade as a hooker.
“Simon was a real competitor – a winner – with the way he went about things and he’s also a good guy, so he’s a great addition to our club.”
So what about the Cup test against Catalans?
“It’s important because it’s the Challenge Cup, but it’s more important because we need to keep improving as a side week after week,” he answered.
“We have got a little bit more consistency in our game and we have improved our defence.
“We’ve gone from conceding an average of around 30 points to half of that over the last month, so that’s definitely a big part of the footy we’ve been playing.
“It’s something we want to continue improving, even though we know Catalans will be a big test.
“We have greater belief and more confidence, but we still realise we have to go out there and get the job done.”
