It has been some week for young Huddersfield forward Matty English: and he intends for it to get even better on Friday night.
Having not only played a pivotal part in the Giants’ third straight win at Magic Weekend, he signed a new deal with the club this week to ensure his long-term future will be in Huddersfield.
Now, English and the Giants are aiming to maintain that good form tonight with a victory at Salford that will move Huddersfield into the top eight at the expense of the Red Devils – and the forward doesn’t want their season to stop there.
“There is a bit of a buzz around the place and with some players coming back into the squad we feel we’re growing again,” he said.
“We’re kind of out of the hole that we were in. Once we get in the eight I think we will stay there and move for that top four. We’re trying to keep this momentum going now as it’s so much better winning than losing.”
English’s new deal appears somewhat of a coup for Huddersfield, who batted off interest from elsewhere to tie down a prop dubbed ‘the next James Graham’ by pack-mate Sebastine Ikahihifo last weekend.
He, however, insists he was never going to move on. “I was always likely to stay,” he said. “There was some interest but they’ve stayed loyal with me so I signed back with the Giants where I’m happy and they seem to be happy with me.”
“They have shown me some loyalty. I have always been at the Giants and to sign for four more years seems just like the next chapter of my journey.”
Salford are Huddersfield’s real bogey side in recent times – and English concedes their opponents will be desperate to perform on Friday.
“They are a similar sort of position to us in the league so it is almost a four-point game,” he said.
“They’ll be coming out just as eager as us to get the win and from the past couple of years, they always seem to have got one over on us. We’re keen to get out there and stand up to them.”