A GIANT STEP FOR ROBINSON
Huddersfield’s interim coach looking to carry on good start against Tigers
SEEKING the second win of his short reign, Huddersfield Giants interim head coach Luke Robinson must wish he had the same intimate knowledge of tonight’s opponents Castleford Tigers as he once did during a bizarre episode in his playing career.
The enthusiastic 36- year- old assistant took over from Simon Woolford last Wednesday and immediately saw the West Yorkshire club pick up their first win since lockdown when beating Wakefield Trinity 29- 6.
He is keen to see them build on that against Castleford although Daryl Powell’s side should pose far sterner foes when they meet in Warrington.
Robinson played 10 games with the Tigers in 2004, having moved there on loan from Wigan Warriors where he was emerging as one of Super League’s top young talents. The spell came to a surreal end, though, as the former England scrum- half explained: “I trained with Castleford all week.
“I did our Monday training session and Tuesday’s session but I think ( current Castleford assistant coach) Danny Orr pulled up injured at Wigan.
“I got a phone call on the Wednesday – my day off – saying you’re not actually playing for Castleford against us this weekend, you’re going to play for us!
“So I went back to them Thursday, had one session and then played Cas, actually scoring the opening try of the game against them.
“It was probably quite easy; I knew them inside out as I’d been training with them for a week!”
Despite being just 19, Robinson had already played in the previous year’s Grand Final which Wigan lost to Bradford Bulls.
However, he recalled: “At Wigan, I got told by Mike Gregory that I was part of his plans and he wanted me to cement my spot.
“But then, just as it goes, coaching is about opinions; Denis Betts came in and said he was going to go a different route at that time and would I like to go out on loan?
“Widnes came in but I thought Cas’ were a better fit for me. It was a strange one, though; I was supposed to go there under Graham Steadman but he got sacked that week.
“Ming ( Gary Mercer) took over and, if I’m honest, it was a really turbulent time.
“But I think it was really good for me growing up; I’d gone from Wigan where I’d been surrounded by the stars of the game – Andy Farrell, Dave Furner, Adrian Lam, Craig Smith – and then all of a sudden I went to Cas’ where it was a little bit dysfunctional.
“I got man of the match a couple of times, once when I did 40 odd tackles, which isn’t a good sign when you’re a scrum- half.
“But I have really fond memories of Cas’.
“The club was really good to me, really nice.
“But there were a lot of things going on off the field and I learned some lessons there about when you are going through some dark times and the results are going against you, just how you react as a player and as a team.”
Huddersfield’s players clearly reacted positively to Robinson after he took charge the day before last week’s game and they duly ended a six- match losing streak.
He has had a little more time to prepare them this time around and also get used to some of the extra duties the head coach roles entails.
“It has been a good week and hopefully we take another step forward on Thursday,” he said.
“When you’re an assistant coach your job is just basically to assist; the technical, tactical side of things.
“But when you become head coach there’s the other side of it; the mechanics of the side but also dynamics of it all.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on with players in their social life and away from it.
“I know everyone thinks they’re robots and the game is the only thing that matters in their life but it’s not.
“They have a lot of things going on away from that. There’s been one or two things that have come up this week regarding players that I’ve had to deal with that are not rugby- related.
“It’s not a shock to me but you’re a little bit more hands- on with dealing with that side of a player’s life.”
He says he has always been an “admirer” of Castleford’s style having worked briefly with their head coach Daryl Powell when he was an England assistant and also playing previously with Orr.
Tigers also have a third former Great Britain international halfback on their coaching staff in the shape of Ryan Sheridan so it is no surprise Robinson is a fan with such creativity on board.
Maximising his own side’s enterprise might be tougher as hooker Adam O’Brien has been ruled out for the season and his back- up Reiss Butterworth has been struggling with illness.
Tom Holmes or Olly Russell could fill in and Robinson’s other main decision is whether to bring back stand- off Lee Gaskell after a broken thumb or leave him a little longer to recover.
For now, at least, that is his role alone.
I have really fond memories of Cas’. The club was really good to me. Luke Robinson recalls playing for today’s opponents Castleford Tigers.