Giants looking sharp with real solidity at back
WE look at five things learned from the Giants after their 16-4 victory over Wakefield Trinity on Wednesday night.
that Gaskell looked like a man with a huge weight off his shoulders and someone who looked like being a great creative force.
Their combination play will only get better as the season progresses and their skills will be relied upon for unlocking defences in tight games, something Huddersfield really struggled with last season.
Maybe two pre-season games are too early to judge the Giants’ defensive capabilities but if they are any barometer, then there are lots of positive signs.
Giants nullified Wakefield for 78 minutes and spent most of the second half defending on their goal line and barely allowed Trinity any real opportunity to score.
Even when defending higher up the pitch, there were very few linebreaks from the hosts and Giants often managed to pin Wakefield back in their own half for six tackles.
Only one side conceded more points than Giants last campaign and that team, London Broncos, were relegated.
It’s clear that the focus of preseason has been defence and if Giants can repeat their showing from Wednesday in Round One and beyond, they should have a successful campaign.
The Giants pack played a very important role on Wednesday and it dominated pretty much from start to finish.
For years now, the one constant in the Giants team has been the strength in their pack and next season should be no different.
Giants were even without players such as James Gavet and Ukuma Ta’ai and yet Wakefield struggled to compete with the physicality from Huddersfield.
There were also very positive performances from Matty English and Adam Walne who had to put in extra shifts to cover for injuries in the game.
One of Huddersfield’s biggest strengths is their forward line and their performance against Wakefield, another strong pack, should give hope to Giants fans.