Thorman at ‘home’
HUDDERSFIELD bosses might just be wishing they’d given Chris Thorman the job permanently after this latest win.
Their former star has been holding the reins while new gaffer Simon Woolford kicks his heels in Australia due to a visa hold up.
Thorman has won all three games while the visa saga has gone on and this could be one of the most crucial.
The St James’ Park victory lifts the Giants into touching distance of the top eight to the delight of Newcastle fan Thorman.
The Geordie said: “How good is this place?
“I was born a mile down the road so to play and win in this sporting cathedral is pretty special.
“I’m just glad we won – it’s a much-needed two points to keep the momentum going. We were good value for our win.”
Claw
Wakefield, who have only won two of their last 11 games, had hoped to bounce back from their Challenge Cup exit to Huddersfield.
Instead, they shot themselves in the foot with a disastrous first-half after which they trailed 19-6.
They almost managed to claw their way back in a stirring second-half but the Giants sneaked home thanks to a Darnell McIntosh try.
Trinity coach Chris Chester said: “It was a missed opportunity.
“From 30 minutes to 80 we were the better side but you cannot afford to give away 18 points early on. We are just not clicking.”
Huddersfield, who have won their last six Magic Weekend games, took an early lead with an Aaron Murphy try.
They added two more from Adam O’Brien and Jake Mamo before Trinity pulled one back through Matty Ashurst before half-time.
Kruise Leeming put Huddersfield under pressure by getting sin binned for the second successive game and Wakefield seized their chance.
Ben Jones-Bishop went in but McIntosh then scored a Giants try that proved vital ahead of Jones-Bishop and Reece Lyne adding further Trinity tries. JODIE BROUGHTON boosted Catalans’ survival hopes with his second successive hat-trick.
His treble, which took his career tally past 100, helped lift the Dragons off bottom spot for only the second time this season.
Crucially, the victory also cuts the gap between them and Salford, in the vital eighth spot, to just two points.
Dragons coach Steve McNamara said: “To get out of the situation we are in, we needed two points against that team. If they’d won they’d have been on 12 points and we’d have been on six but this result puts everyone back in the mix.
“It’s probably a good result for other teams sitting around us because we’re all chasing Salford.
“The result really mattered for us and hopefully we have now got some momentum. It’s nothing sensational but we are building steadily.”
The Dragons started slowly and Salford punished them with an early converted try from Weller Hauraki.
But Salford, who crashed out of the Challenge Cup to Championship side Leigh last time out, got rolled.
Catalans led 10-6 at the break with tries from Benjamin Garcia and Julian Bousquet and they took control in the second half. Broughton’s three tries in 15 second-half minutes sucked all the life out of the Red Devils, to the dismay of coach Ian Watson.
He said: “It is a bad result for us and it is not good enough for us as a team. Our senior players need to stand up.
“Once we get in the battle we start to go out and not play and our ill-discipline really cost us.”
George Griffin scored a late consolation try but Watson added: “That result could cost us in the table.”