Huddersfield Giants captain Danny Brough has called on his side to be more “ruthless” at the business end of the season, after they threw away a comfortable lead to eventually draw against top-four rivals Warrington in Super League Round 25.
The Giants looked in complete control when leading 23-6, largely thanks to an imperious performance from Brough, before Warrington ran in 18 unanswered points to take the lead, with Brough’s late drop-goal earning Huddersfield a share of the spoils.
Brough says it was a point dropped rather than a point gained, and called on his side to improve after being “bullied” by the Wolves.
“I think it’s a point dropped; we could have knuckled down a bit harder and done a bit better in that second-half – but a point is a point. We haven’t had anything from Warrington over the last 10 games, so we’ll take it,” he said.
“We have to be more ruthless; the first-half was like a play-off performance form us, but it wasn’t good enough in the second-half. They got a bit of field position; I don’t think we worked hard enough to get the ball back and we were getting bullied.”
It was a night of individual accolades for Brough, however. As well as passing Iestyn Harris’ points tally in Super League to move up to eighth on the all-time points scorers list, he also opened up a commanding lead in the Albert Goldthorpe Medal table with just two rounds remaining. Brough is the only man in the history of the award to win it twice, and he said a third success would be “outstanding”.
“I didn’t know I’d passed Iestyn, but it’s very nice. Individual accolades aren’t something I concentrate on most of the time, but it’s always good to have your name bandied about quite a bit.
“It’d be outstanding to win the medal again; I put medals like that down to the team I’m playing with, such as the forwards who give us a real boost going up the field. I thought we were hit and miss in the first half of the season, and it’s off the back of improved performances that have given me the points to succeed in the Albert Goldthorpe Medal.
“It’d be great to get my hands on it once again though.”
Albert Goldthorpe Table 2014 as at 31st Aug 2014
Danny Brough (Huddersfield Giants) 30
Travis Burns (Hull Kingston Rovers) 26
Kevin Brown (Widnes Vikings) 25
Leon Pryce (Catalan Dragons) 22
Daryl Clark (Castleford Tigers) 22
Morgan Escaré (Catalan Dragons) 21
Rangi Chase (Salford Red Devils) 20
Marc Sneyd (Castleford Tigers) 18
Matty Smith (Wigan Warriors) 17
Gareth Ellis (Hull FC) 16
Alex Walmsley (St Helens) 16
