HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS fullback George Flanagan heads back to Hunslet on Friday aiming to play his part in ending their Challenge Cup dreams – but thankful for the role the Leeds team played in getting him to where he is now.
The 21-year-old is fresh from signing a long-term Giants contract extension on the back of a stand-out first season in Super League.
That followed a 13-match loan spell at Hunslet in 2024, which included the against-the-odds play-off run that clinched promotion from the old League One.
Having finished fourth in the table, then-coach Dean Muir’s side sealed five wins, four of them away from home, culminating in the 22-20 victory at Swinton in which Flanagan scored his eighth try for the club.
Now Hunslet, coached by Kyle Trout, who was previously Muir’s assistant, are preparing for their second home third-round meeting with Huddersfield in as many years.
Flanagan, a Bradford product, made his Giants debut in their 34-6 win at the South Leeds Stadium, going on to finish the campaign with 25 appearances, ten tries and 44 goals.
His new deal runs to 2029, and he said: “Last season was a big one for me, but I don’t think I’d have got a shot at it like I did without having the experience from my time on loan at Hunslet.
“It came at the right stage for me because I’d had a taste of first-team rugby at Bradford and needed some more games somewhere to try to put myself into the frame at Huddersfield.
“We’d spoken about going out on loan, and tried to sort something for a while, then the Hunslet opportunity came up.
“I knew a bit about the club because my dad (also George) had played for them and spoke highly of his time there, and he was right about them.
“As soon as I walked through the door, I felt welcome. It was a great group of lads who took me under their wing, and I enjoyed training as much as playing in the matches.
“Dean Muir was great for me, and really helped my development. He didn’t put too much pressure on me, which I liked, but put his trust in me and just told me to go out and try to express myself and play my own game.
“It was a great end to the season, we built momentum, the Hunslet fans were behind us, we believed we could do it and we got the job done. I’ll never forget how good it felt.
“Dean’s a great coach and a great bloke and we still keep in touch. He’s at North Wales Crusaders now and I would really like to see them do well.”