‘We have to cope better a man down’

SUNDAY’S 42-10 humbling at the hands of Wigan Warriors showed, for the first time this season, a weakness in the Huddersfield Giants squad.

For Jermaine McGillvary, it was their inability to deal with losing Aidan Sezer for 10 minutes and shows they are not quite ready to be competing with the top sides in Super League.

“Not every team that gets a man sent-off concedes tries, and we conceded four of them, so it was nowhere near where we’ve been at and where we want to be,” the England winger told the Examiner.

“It’s another learning curve for us, we’re kind of a new team, we’ve got a lot of new signings so it’s something we can learn from.

“Every game is a lesson, whether you win, lose or draw, you can learn from it, it’s never going to be a perfect game and this was by far from a perfect game.

“Some of the stuff we can learn a lot from Wigan, they’re a top-quality team that showed us where we are kind of at, at the moment.

“We’re not quite there as a top team but we are trying to get there.”

Despite the result, the day started brightly for Giants who, at one stage, led 10-4 and looked good value for the lead.

However, it was Sezer’s yellow card that turned the tide of the game and although it seemed harsh on first viewing, McGillvary agreed with the referee’s decision.

He said: “That’s the nature of the game now, we want to protect player’s necks and heads.”

“It was a mistake, he didn’t mean to do it obviously but at the end of the day, rules are rules and on field, it was a yellow card.”

“It doesn’t matter that we had a guy sin-binned, it doesn’t mean that we concede four tries while he is off.

“We need to stick up for ourselves and be a lot better than that, especially in defence.

“We can take a lot [of encouragement] but at the end of the day we’re going to get a man sent-off again this season at some point, that’s how the game goes and so we need to react a lot better than that.

“It wasn’t great and, in the past, we’ve done a lot better with 12 men and that’s something we have to get better at because rugby league is that sort of game where people are going to make mistakes.

“Someone is going to get sinbinned or red-carded and if we react like that again we’re going to get on the wrong side of a result again.

“That’s not something we want to do so we need to improve as a team and stand together, especially in adversity.”

Come September, it is likely Wigan will be one of the Grand Final contenders and that is where McGillvary would like to see Giants in the near future.

He said: “Wigan, forever, have been a top-quality team, even before my time and during my time as a professional, they’re a top team.

“There is them and a couple more that we want to get to eventually, but we have to compete with these teams and not get blown away like we have done. It was a bit disappointing, but we have to dust ourselves off and go again.”