HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS went down 18-17 away to the Leeds Rhinos this evening in what turned out to be a real Super League thriller.
Up 13-4 at the break, Ian Watson’s men were cut down by a spirited Leeds who ran in three second-half tries to Huddersfield’s one.
And for Watson it was one that got away.
“We’ve had really good games every time we’ve played Leeds. I thought Leeds found a way out of their end too easily and they got the spoils off the back end of it,” Watson said.
“We started to chase it in that period when Myler was sinbinned, we spoke about it before and being patient and going back to what we were doing.
“However, we started to chase and Chris Hill forced an offload. That gave them energy and you are taking pressure off them and putting it on us.
“I thought the resilience was phenomenal towards the back end of the first-half, we came down the other hand and slotted a drop goal at half-time.”
Towards the back end of the game, Jake Connor dribbled the ball into touch with two minutes to go despite being one point behind.
“He lost track of it,” Connor confessed. “He looked over his shoulder at the 18-17 and it’s caught him by surprise and he’s been caught up in the moment.
“We could have been smarter with how we have managed the game, but Jake said he got it wrong and he put his hand up and is accountable.
“Jake is still finding his feet, he is still not fully fit and that is a tough game to have a clear head.”
Watson is taking the positives out of the 18-17 defeat.
“There are loads of positives, look at games against St Helens and Wigan this year and it was going to take time to build but people were being too individual rather than being a team.
“We are facing a fair bit of adversity everyone seems to be full strength when we play them or getting players back, but you would rather learn the lessons now than further down the line.”
One man who didn’t play in the loss to Leeds was halfback Olly Russell as Watson confirms that Russell has torn his hamstring.
