HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS head coach Ian Watson has admitted there have been “honest” conversations with his players following a downturn in form.
The Giants have won just four from ten games in Super League 2023 so far, with three defeats in the past three weeks against Catalans Dragons, Hull FC and Hull KR.
Now, Watson has called on his Giants players to replicate the hard work and determination they put in last year.
“The only reason they got to where they did last year was because they worked hard for each other,” Watson said.
“This is a different team from last year. Everyone was saying it is one of the better squads and I do believe we have one of the strongest squads but it is unproven.
“You aren’t filling it out like at St Helens whose squad has been there year in year out. For St Helens, that level of expectation is there all the time every year, to win and compete. That is a different level of pressure whilst other teams have relegation threats every year.
“We’ve gone from bottom top four to top four and the next minute, everyone is telling them they are going to win the competition, it happens by hard work and not just talking about it. That’s what we have lacked in the last two weeks.
“We turned up undercooked and didn’t perform at the right level, then we turn out for Hull KR and gave a performance that lacked effort and energy. We felt we lacked certain strengths of ours which are important in keeping and getting you in the game.
“We have had individual conversations and honest ones. the players have been really honest in what they think as well. It will only tell on the playing field tomorrow if we are true to our word.”
One man who won’t be available for an unspecified amount of time is forward Josh Jones, who has been suffering with concussion symptoms for months.
“Josh is seeing specialists, we had one specialist that cleared him but he came back with another few symptoms. He has now had to go and see someone else. We don’t know where he is now.
“The specialist will let him know where he is at. We can’t put a timeframe on it, it’s way out of our hands.”
There could well be a potential debutant in the upcoming weeks with Watson identifying young halfback Kieran Rush as the next man off the Huddersfield conveyor belt of youth.
“We wanted Kieran to go to League One first so we sent him to Rochdale where he did alright. He had a few really god games where he finished the sets well and handled that level defensively.
“We wanted to see him develop in the Championship, that was the next step but that hasn’t materialised. If it is to be done with us then so be it. He has performed really well in training and he has done that every week.”
