Can Rick make a sudden impact?
RICK STONE is hoping to make an impact in his first match as head coach of Huddersfield when St Helens visit the John Smith’s Stadium today.
The Giants, who sacked Paul Anderson after he failed to arrest their alarming slump, were consigned to a place in the Super 8s Qualifiers before Stone arrived from Australia to take up the reins and they dropped to the foot of the table following Leeds’ 18-16 win over Wigan on Friday night.
With Leigh looking menacing after stretching their unbeaten run in the Championship to 21 matches, relegation is a distinct possibility for one of the four Super League clubs but Stone is confident that will not happen to the Giants, especially after watching their recent win over leaders Hull.
“I’m not saying it’s not a possibility because mathematically it is,” Stone said. “I suppose all Super League clubs will be thinking along the same lines but I was really buoyant watching the boys play Hull FC a couple of weeks ago.
“It definitely gave me a lot of positive thoughts about how they played that night.
“It bodes well for the competition if the team that is not doing so well can knock over the team that is leading the competition.
“We’ll be better in a couple of weeks but I’m still looking to the challenge this week.
“We won’t be the finished product this weekend but hopefully in the coming weeks we’ll see an improvement.”