Huddersfield Giants will be looking to their on-the-field leaders to fire up their assault on Super League 2017.
Head coach Rick Stone revealed his leadership group for the new season, which starts for the Giants at Widnes Vikings on Friday, with new skipper Leroy Cudjoe to be backed by former captain Danny Brough, last season’s man with the armband Ryan Hinchcliffe and experienced former England Knights forward Michael Lawrence.
“We had a look at the captaincy and I think we have the player that represented everything we wanted to say about the Giants,” said Stone.
“Leroy is a hometown boy and much respected throughout the squad, and we have put in place a support card to help him.
“In Danny, Ryan and Michael, we have players with plenty of experience and they will be there to take the pressure off Leroy in certain scenarios.
“In all, we have four players who have set the standards and have the respect of everyone at the club across the board.”
Former Melbourne Storm star Hinchcliffe, who is preparing for his second Super League season with the Giants, was happy to give his support to the new captain.
“The process for the captaincy has been right,” said the 32-year-old.
“I was a little bit concerned by the way it was handled for last season, but Leroy has been handed the job and he has 100 per cent support from all the players.
“He is a local boy and Leroy is one of those players you can rely upon for a good performance every week.”
Coach Stone is happy his side are shaping up nicely for the start of the new campaign, and the Giants will only be lacking new Australian signing Jake Mamo for the trip to Widnes.
New signing from Bradford Lee Gaskell and ex-New Zealand international prop Sam Rapira, who both missed the 12-0 win at Warrington Wolves in the final pre-season friendly, are in the running for the trip to Widnes.
There could also be a full debut for prop forward Shannon Wakeman, who had two short spells on the field from the bench at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
“We are getting close and we are going into the game with plenty of confidence,” said Stone.
“Shannon is going well and could play some part on Friday and Lee is fit and available, but there are just a couple of things we will need to check on.
“As for Jake, he is working on getting full movement, but it will be a couple of weeks at least before he is ready.”
Stone’s main concern is that the Giants should produce a strong performance at Widnes and expects a very tough test.
“We are expecting a hard game at Widnes,” said Stone.
“They may have lost Kevin Brown to Warrington, but it is the first game of the season and everybody in the competition wants to win this one.
“But the performance is the main thing, and while winning would be great, a performance that builds confidence in the squad is just as important.
“In the end there are going to be six coaches disappointed after the first round of games..”
The Giants ended last season at the bottom of the Super League table and subsequently booked their Super League XXII place with a dramatic 23-22 win at Hull KR in the last of their Middle 8s matches.
However, Stone felt that close call was something that would motivate the players individually rather than as a group.
“To be honest, it is not something we have dwelt upon,” said Stone.
“We have new players and we have moved on to 2017.
“However, I am sure any of the players who were involved in the games at the end of last season will be very motivated not to be in that situation again.
“But as far as the group goes, we are just looking to have a good season.
“It is inevitable in this game that you will lose players to injury, but we are hoping that we can enjoy some continuity this season.
“It is also important in the squad to have some flexibility and we have brought blokes in that have the ability to deal with different roles.
“We have some key players, but for the team the important thing that we need is to have consistency throughout.”
