NEW signing George Gatis knows the Giants are not far off getting their first win of the season – as long as they stop conceding cheap penalties.

The former New Zealand Warriors hooker was at the heart of most of Huddersfield’s best work in the disappointing defeat at Bradford.

But he admits they were their own worst enemy at the weekend and ended up paying the ultimate price.

“The effort was there, but the execution wasn’t,” he said.

“But the real problem we’re facing at the moment is the number of cheap penalties we’re conceding.

“If you hand over such easy possession against sides like Bradford and Leeds you’re asking for trouble.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re not far off, we’ve just got to cut out the errors.

“We know we’re a good side, it’s just not coming off for us yet.

“With a new set of halves, we always knew it was going to take a bit of time for us to settle, and that’s exactly what we’re now seeing.

“But we showed in our pre-season games that we can be effective. It’s just a case of doing that in Super League.”

However, Gatis also feels the way the Giants performed in the pre-season matches when they chalked up wins at Hull, Castleford and Batley could have worked against them.

“Possibly the way things went in those games could have put us in some sort of comfort zone, and we’re now suffering for that,” he added.

“With all due respect to those teams we played then, they aren’t quite up to the same level as Leeds and Bradford.

“In the pre-season games we weren’t put under as much pressure and it was a little easier to try and get our combinations right.

“Unfortunately, it’s been much harder in our opening Super League games, and we’ve struggled a bit as a result. But we know that won’t last forever.”