RALPH RIMMER says he’s very confident Huddersfield Giants will become a club who add real value to Super League in the very near future.
And the director for change says the Giants are already making progress since he took the role back in December.
Former RFL chief executive Rimmer is in discussions with Kirklees Council over a site for the new stadium the Giants have said they will be playing in by 2030.
It is widely reported that options within the actual town boundary are limited but “no stone is being left unturned” in the search for the right venue in the locality.
Wherever the Giants end up, they will move out of the Accu Stadium, now owned by Huddersfield Town Football Club and which they believe is too big for their needs, at the end of this season.
Giants Chairman Ken Davy’s plan to buy The Shay in Halifax to use as an interim base has fallen through, although they could still play there as a tenant.
Meanwhile the FLAIR Stadium in Dewsbury, where the club played a recent Super League match because the Accu was unavailable, is also an interim possibility.
The Giants have also taken recent games involving their lower-grade teams there as work on upgrading their Laund Hill training complex continues.
Rimmer says the completion of that “state of the art” facility by the end of the summer is another sign of the progress the Giants are making, as is the doubling of commercial income in recent months.
With disappointing on-field performances – addressed by the recent appointment of a new coach in Australian Jim Lenihan, although continuing with their 36-24 defeat to York Knights in the opening game of Magic Weekend on Saturday – and falling attendances, the Giants have often come in for criticism, with their claim to top-flight status being questioned.
Rimmer said: “Huddersfield Giants were just in need of some TLC, and I was brought in to help provide that.
“There was always going to be a degree of criticism, some of which is deserved, but I have just advised everyone internally to focus on making a difference, after which everything else will look after itself.
“We have forged a strong unit internally and we now have a new identity and direction. We relaunch in the summer and the results of all the hard work will become evident soon enough. It’s up to us to make people sit up and take note, and we will.
“We have launched Giants Unleashed, which represents a cohesive strategic road map for the development of the club, with the vision of becoming a consistently-dominant Super League force, both on and off the field.
“It’s about connecting with the local community, celebrating and building on our heritage while also inspiring future generations and getting them on board.
“Connecting all areas of the club is crucial, and there has been a great buy-in from the staff throughout the organisation. We feel we are on a journey.
“It’s a transformative project and we are totally committed to making this work. The multi-million pound investments, both in the new training facility and stadium-to-come, are real and a proper statement of intent.”
Alongside their established sponsors, a raft of new ones will soon be announced, in addition to which they have also secured new strategic partnerships with Fantastic Media and Ventas Europe Ltd, respectively responsible for marketing and commercial growth strategies.
Rimmer added: “The board understood the size of the task when they asked me to help out. The progress behind the scenes is significant and as a result the Giants’ family is now growing on a daily basis. It is a real team effort.”