Giants bolster backroom staff
SUPER League’s bottom club Huddersfield Giants have bolstered their backroom staff with the addition of former Leicester Tigers strength-andconditioning coach Oliver Richardson as their new head of performance.
The 37-year-old, whose most recent job was with Japanese rugby union club Kubota Spears, replaces Mark Andrews, who returned to Australia before the start of the season for family reasons.
Huddersfield managing director, Richard Thewlis, said: “The situation
Good news ahead of the Wigan match however, is that the injury picked up by Lee Gaskell, in the warm-up, is not serious and he did not feature against Hull purely as a precaution.
Tonight’s game could also be the first time Giants fans see one of the Senior brother’s in claret and gold this season and although they featured last season, Woolford is keen to ensure they develop fully before being thrown into the deep end.
He said: “Louis and Innes, they’re coming along nicely but they’ve still got some parts of their game that they need to fix before they’re capable of being consistent Super League players.
“They’re certainly training well, their last three or four weeks have improved out-of-sight with certain aspects of the game.
“I’ve got no problem giving them a game if we need to.”
Giants’ opponents, Wigan, have not had a great start to Super League and, according to Woolford, this could be a benefit for Giants if exploited.
“They’re one of the more fancied teams. The expectation on Wigan is a lot more from the rugby league fraternity than it is the Huddersfield Giants,” added Woolford. on the ground here, so to speak.
“Ollie was looking to return to the UK after being away for over eight years now and, with the job at Kubota being completed, he was keen to take up the challenge here.”
Richardson, who also worked with England Saxons during his time at Leicester, said: “I’ll be on the plane with my family as soon as possible to start working hands on.
“In the meantime, I’m in regular contact with all the staff and have a pretty good idea of what we need to do to get fitter, stronger and more durable.”