“I back myself and I back my team mates”.
That’s the message from Josh Jones as Huddersfield Giants get ready for the big stage on Saturday and the forward looks to fulfil a personal dream of winning the Challenge Cup.
Huddersfield are in their first cup final since 2009 and victory over Wigan Warriors would bring the trophy to Rugby League’s birthplace for the first time since 1953.
Although Jones has won and lost Grand Finals, like most of this team-mates he will be playing in the Challenge Cup final for the first time this weekend.
“It’s something you dream about as a young northern kid,” said former St Helens, Salford Red Devils and Hull FC back-row Jones. “It’s something I’ve dreamt about for years.
I’m really excited to walk out there with my team. It’s going to be a tough game but I back myself, I back my squad, I back my team mates to come up with a performance and get the victory at the end of the 80 minutes.”
They look well placed to compete for the famous trophy, currently sitting fourth in the Super League table after a strong start to the year and on a four-match winning run.
“We’re in really good form. We’re playing some good rugby, we’re performing really well, but in most semis and finals you can’t go off form,” said Jones.
“You’ve got turn up on the day and put in a great performance. We know we’re going to have to be at our best to beat this Wigan team, who are playing some good rugby under Matty Peet.”
The same is true of Huddersfield under their head coach Ian Watson, who Jones previously played under at Salford.
After a challenging first season in charge in 2021, the perennial strugglers have pushed on impressively this year, but Jones says this should only be the start.
“We’re not far off being a certified top-four team now,” he said. “Watto came in last year, we’ve transitioned into a really good squad, we’ve got a great spine, we’ve got a great pack and we’ve some great people within our club.
“We’re definitely a club on the up; it’s just about staying there now. We want to kick on and be a consistent top-four team that’s competing for both trophies every year.”
Jones is part of a forward pack that includes experienced figures like Chris Hill and Chris McQueen, who have won major titles on alternate sides of the world, plus emerging young stars like Matty English, Oliver Wilson and Owen Trout.
“I was lucky to meet Chris on the 2019 (Great Britain) tour to New Zealand and he was a great lad there,” said Jones.
“For him to come in now, he brings a wealth of experience, a lot of games, he’s a smart rugby player and a really good bloke.
“He’s definitely taken some of the younger boys under his wing in the middle, he’s teaching them the little tricks that he’s learned over the last 15 years.
“Chris McQueen has been at the top of the game in the NRL, he’s won the competitions with Souths, so there’s a wealth of experience throughout the squad.
“There are some good boys coming through like Olly Wilson, Matty English, Trouty. There’s some good boys pushing and making us better.
“It’s a good group, it’s a mixture of youth and experience. It’s a solid squad that’s willing to work hard for each other.”
They did just that in their semi-final at the beginning of the month, dominating Hull KR in a hugely impressive win to set up this trip to Tottenham. More of the same would do nicely on Saturday.
Jones said: “We were outstanding against a good Hull KR team, we drowned them. We kicked them into pockets, defended really well, then our attack came off the back of good field position.
“We’re happy with our semi-final performance but we’ve got Wigan now and we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.”
