Rick Stone has warned his Huddersfield players he is expecting a response at St Helens on Friday night – after declaring performances like the one last weekend are unacceptable at the Giants now.
Stone believes the heavy defeat to Salford last Saturday is something that has become part and parcel of the Giants over the last couple of years, and he is keen to move away from that for the remainder of this season and beyond.
Their top four hopes are now well and truly over, but Stone says that they must treat their final two games of the season – against the Saints and Leeds – seriously.
“I don’t want to keep harping on about last week but it’s something that has been acceptable at this club far too much over the last couple of years,” said Stone.
“It’s not acceptable now for the fans and for our expectations of the place. I’m definitely looking forward to Saints; I don’t know if we saw it coming last week but we’re looking forward to trying and rectifying it now.
“We’ve got two games, we’ll try and produce our best and see what we can do. “Nothing changes too much; we’ve got a couple of big games against Saints and Leeds and we want to make sure we’re up for it both weeks.”
However, the Giants will be without two key men for Friday’s trip across the Pennines. Captain Leroy Cudjoe will be out for six months after undergoing major knee surgery, while in-form prop Sebastine Ikahihifo has an ankle problem.
