Giants to learn ‘hard lessons’ after shock loss
GIANTS boss Simon Woolford says his side will learn some ‘hard lessons’ after throwing away a huge lead with only minutes remaining on their return to Super league action.
The Giants were 26-6 ahead with only 15 minutes left on the clock but an incredible comeback from Leeds Rhinos saw them run out 27-26 winners after a Golden Point drop goal in extra time.
The outcome was harsh on Woolford’s men, whose ‘home’ fixture was switched from the John Smith’s Stadium due to bio-security protocol.
They played some splendid rugby to put themselves in a seemingly invincible position, with Darnell McIntosh grabbing a hat-trick of tries and fellow winger Louis Senior scoring two.
Huddersfield coach Simon Woolford says his side will learn some valuable lessons from their last-gasp defeat.
“This game goes for 80 minutes and, when they got one on us, for some reason we lost our way, both with the footy and without it,” he said.
“There’s going to be some very hard lessons to come out of that one.
“We spoke about our discipline before the game but we let them out of their own end really easily in that last 15 minutes, our discipline went out the window.
“We went away from the things that worked well for us defensively in the first 65 minutes. We had ample opportunities to regroup and reset but for that last 15 minutes we weren’t good enough to do that.
“You could see them grow a leg in the last five or 10 minutes and you could see us completely lose our way.”
Leeds
coach
We went away from things that had worked well for us defensively in the first 65 minutes
Richard
Agar thought his side had run out of time before completing a stunning comeback victory that took them to the top of Super League.
The Rhinos looked destined for defeat in the second match of a double-header at Headingley which marked the return of Super League when they trailed 26-6 after an hour and had winger Ash Handley dispatched to the sin bin.
But they struck back with three tries in five minutes despite being a man short and levelled the match through Konrad Hurrell two minutes from the end of normal time to set up the position for skipper Luke Gale to snatch an unlikely 27-26 victory with a 40-metre drop goal in the first period of extra time.
“We felt Huddersfield came out and smacked us in the mouth and we didn’t respond great,” Agar said.
“They played really basic and kicked well and they caused us problems.
“I thought we lost our composure and were way too sloppy with the ball.
“For 55, 60 minutes we were being soundly beaten.
“However, it just goes to show what a little bit of momentum can do.
“I personally didn’t think there was enough time to get back but, once you post two back-to-back tries and get within a couple of scores, it does start to create a bit of doubt among the opposition.
“I’m pleased to get the win. We showed a lot of spirit.”
The double-header was played behind closed doors and under new rules, which included tap restarts instead of scrums and the six-again regulation brought in from the NRL.
“I think there will be lots of lessons for us from tonight on what looked like a new style of football,” Agar added.
“There is no doubt about it.
“It was a quick game, it resembled touch and pass at times.”