WHILST the rest of Super League was playing round one, St Helens were in Australia for the World Club Challenge and Huddersfield Giants were patiently waiting for their round two clash with Warrington Wolves.
In round one, Warrington Wolves thrashed Leeds Rhinos, Salford Red Devils overcame Leigh Leopards, Catalans Dragons beat Wakefield Trinity, Hull KR shocked Wigan Warriors and Hull FC were victorious over Castleford Tigers.
For Huddersfield boss Ian Watson, it was a “weird” feeling watching on rather than playing but picked out two results from last week that “surprised” him.
“It was weird, it was one of those where you are excited for the games coming up but then realise you are not actually playing a part,” Watson said.
“We were able to sit back and enjoy the rugby for the first time in a while to be fair.
“There were a few games where it could have gone either way and that’s the strength of the competition at the minute.
“I was expecting Castleford to come away with that win at Hull, but they got off to a terrible start. Hull KR are always difficult to beat at home. And the way Warrington blew Leeds away was a a little bit of a surprise so early on in the campaign.”
With Warrington Huddersfield’s next opponents, Watson addressed what their main dangers looked like last week.
“I thought they were really good, they played pretty direct and used the big fellas to get them on the front foot.
“George Williams was dangerous on the back of that as well. You expected them to be better, Daryl’s (Powell) got a proven track record of getting things right and you can tell he’s had an impact.
“I’ve got full confidence in our pack that we can go up against any pack and match them.
“Paul Vaughan showed what he brings to the table, he did fairly big minutes and worked really hard. A lot of those big forwards came off the bench with explosive minutes and it’s for us to counteract that and make sure we cause them their own problems.”
