All hail Sezer as he leads Giants to win
HUDDERSFIELD Giants’ first match back at the John Smith’s Stadium became the Aidan Sezer show as he contributed a try and three assists in Luke Robinson’s opening game as acting head coach.
After a week of turmoil which saw the departure of head coach Simon Woolford, the Claret and Gold put in a professional performance, the likes of which has not been seen from them since March, to get their first win on the board since the restart of Super League.
The first actions of the game saw Giants force a goal-line drop out and from the resulting set they almost scored, but Reiss Butterworth was held up in goal by some strong Wakefield defending.
Trinity’s first opportunity came 10 minutes into the game and it looked like Tony Gigot, who came on for the injured Liam Kay early in the match, had opened the scoring but the referee spotted a forward pass.
The opening score of the game came through Chris McQueen’s first try as a Giants player.
The England international’s darting run through the middle split the Wakefield defence and his task was simple to grab the first try of the game, supremely converted by Sezer.
The lead was swiftly doubled, this time through Suaia Matagi. Deciding to run on the last tackle, a smart run from the New Zealander was found with a good pass from Sezer and Huddersfield were ahead by 12.
The first half, one that belonged to
Giants and Sezer, finished with the Claret and Gold having to withstand some late Wakefield pressure, but a late drop-goal from Jordan Turner alleviated some pressure and they went back to the changing room 13 points to the good.
Huddersfield’s start to the second half was polar-opposite of last week with James Gavet the latest man to get his name on the scoresheet, Sezer once again the provider.
Unbelievably, the captain’s game got even better. A chip over the defence was parried by the Aussie and the halfback was able to catch the ball before it hit the deck to score his first of the game.
Remarkably, his conversion smashed the post and stayed out, the only mark on an otherwise perfect game for Sezer.
Jake Wardle created and finished the next try as he chased his own kick, past the defence, to put Giants 29-0 ahead following another Sezer conversion.
They weren’t to register a shut-out, however, as Wakefield, through Kelepi Tanginoa, crossed for a consolation try.
The end of the game was littered with handling errors and penalties from both sides and despite some hard running, mainly from Gavet, there were no further points.
And Robinson was full of praise for his team’s main man Sezer. He said: “I think he is a fantastic player. I said to him before the game I’m very privileged to be his coach.
“We’ve had some extremely good half-backs at this club over the years, Danny Brough was the last one with a really good left-footed kicking game and Sezer has taken that mantle.
“His knowledge of the game is incredible, he’s got a lovely skill set to him.
“But what probably sets him out from the rest and a lot of people ask me this, is that he makes the rest of the players better.
“I think that’s a real testament of him as a person and a character, when he makes others play better, that says a lot about him.
“When he walks out on the field and he’s stood at the side of you, the other players feel better in themselves and that’s probably the biggest testament I can give him.”