Ian Watson wants his halfback class of 2022 to learn from each other as Huddersfield aim to return to the days when they were play-off regulars.
The claret and gold coach has assembled one of the biggest squads in Super League – and it includes a crop of players challenging for the playmaker positions.
Watson, going into his second season in charge, already had club Academy product Oliver Russell, Australian Jack Cogger and teenager Will Pryce, who is being tipped to switch to fullback, but emerged as a talented stand-off last season, and could be utilised in that role again.
And while Aidan Sezer has switched to Leeds and Lee Gaskell to Wakefield, Huddersfield have signed two internationals Watson worked with at Salford – Tonga’s Tui Lolohea and France ace Theo Fages, the latter moving from champions St Helens.
Although Lolohea played fullback in the Giants’ opening win over Toulouse and Hull KR (when Pryce was absent), he and Fages are expected to be the first picks at six and seven.
But Watson, who went with Russell and Fages as his halves in those first two games, insists he is more than willing to mix things up as he seeks a winning formula, and a first play-off appearance since 2015.
“I’m really pleased with Tui, who also provides competition at fullback, and Theo, who is a real competitor and was very valuable to St Helens. He’s liked by his peers and helps breed the right habits in a group,” he said.
“But we also have really good players in Will, who is an unbelievable talent, Jack, who is getting back to full fitness after an ankle problem, and Oliver, who had a great pre-season.
“At 23, he’s still young for a halfback, and I feel he has jumped up a few levels since I’ve been here.”
Watson is confident Huddersfield can be top-six contenders this time around and is urging the town’s sports fans to get behind the team.
“I believe we’re ahead of where we were at this stage last year, because there were some things I wanted to tidy up,” he added.
“With the players we have brought in, we have more competition, and I want them to push each other and learn from each other.
“The minimum target for us is to make the play-offs, then see where we go from there.
“We’ve got some really passionate fans and this is a sporting town. We want people to see we’re developing as a team and that we’re going to start competing for trophies, and to really get behind us and help us kick on.”
The above content is also available in the regular weekly edition of League Express, on newsstands every Monday in the UK and as a digital download. Click here for more details.
