IAN WATSON insists that he “always had trust” in his Huddersfield Giants squad after securing a third straight win.
Huddersfield looked to be under threat of relegation just a weeks ago, after winning only five of their first 16 Super League games.
But a 19-12 victory over Hull FC on Thursday, following wins over Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity, means they are on their best run of the season and are only four points off the play-offs for the time being.
“I’ve always had trust in the group,” said Watson.
“There are things which have gone against us that people don’t see and don’t need to see, but we always knew where we wanted to get to and what we wanted to do. The boys are showing the characteristics now to play how we want to play.
“The biggest plus is that the spine is settled. If you have a settled spine, your team generally goes well. That’s the first time we’ve put the same 17 out for a long, long time.
Hopefully our spine can keep building and working together to get better all the time.”
Watson was delighted for veteran prop Chris Hill, who created the winning try against Hull for Chris McQueen with subtle hands.
“It’s Hilly’s pet play, he’s been practicing for a while so it’s great that it’s finally come off,” said Watson.
“He’s done it a couple of times before so to actually win a game off it, he’ll be made up with that.”
The Huddersfield coach saw the winning moment as reward for his team’s rediscovered fortitude.
“It was two nervous teams who knew it was a big game. The start of the game took a hell of a lot out of both teams,” added Watson.
“When both teams are desperate to get the win, you’ve got to stick in it longer than they do and that’s what we did.
“In the second half there were suddenly more errors, both teams were letting each other off and not building pressure. But we’ve come up with the winning try, and a win’s a win.”
