McQueen’s loving life at Giants and is planning return

CHRIS McQueen has praised the standard of the Betfred Super League, and suggests there is not much difference than the level in the NRL.

And so much so, the Huddersfield Giants star is keen to stay with the Claret and Gold next season.

The 33-year-old, who won the NRL Grand Final with Souths in 2014 before joining Gold Coast Titans, has been an ever present in head coach Ian Watson’s side this season.

And, having joined Giants in September in a short-term deal, he has been more than impressed with the standard of rugby being playing in the comptition.

“With no disrespect, in Australia, everyone probably carries on that it (NRL) is leaps and bounds in front,” he said.

“But it’s really not. I came over here and I’ve been surprised.

“It’s been really enjoyable just how high quality the football is over here. I’ve really enjoyed it.”

McQueen, who has played in the back-row and also at centre for the Giants this season, is out of contract at the end of the campaign.

But he is keen to stay on next

DUE to printing deadline issues, we are sorry we’re unable to bring coverage from last night’s Giants v St Helens Challenge Cup clash. We’ll continue to cover the team’s fortunes in the Examiner and online at YorkshireLive, including the Claret and Gold’s next Super League match against Warrington on May 17. my kind of players. They do all the tough stuff that some of the supporters or people watching on TV don’t really see.

“But I really appreciate them. Chris McQueen’s right up there as one of our best performers, ever since he came in.

“He’s a player I enquired about a few times when I was at Salford.

“We even contacted Wests Tigers to see what he was doing as he was playing State Cup.

“The one thing he is as a rugby player is smart.

“He understands situations and how he needs to react. That’s why I went for him at centre – for his experience – when we lost people like Ricky (Leutele) and Leroy (Cudjoe).

“He’s holding his (centre) place now on his own merits.

“He’ll do whatever needs to be done for the team. That’s the biggest compliment I can make. He is a perfect team player.”

McQueen qualifies to play for England through his dad, and has one cap so far. But he is keen to press his claims for a World Cup slot later this year.

And he believes Watson can help he do just that.

“He’s really driven about the culture of the team, put a few little things right, a bit of, ‘Just make sure you do your job for the boys,’” McQueen said about the new Giants boss.

“I think we lacked a little bit of that last year, the culture stuff, but he’s going to be really good for us.”