How Aidan Sezer was one step ahead prior to Super League move

It would be fair to say new Huddersfield signing Aidan Sezer has hit the ground running in Super League so far.

The 28-year-old is one of the early favourites for the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award after impressing in the opening rounds of the season.

His creativity and skill from the halves helped the unfancied Giants win four of their first five league games prior to the season suspension.

Sezer’s impact hasn’t surprised many, especially after guiding Canberra Raiders to the NRL Grand Final last year, however the speed in which he has taken to the competition has really caught the eye.

Speaking on the reasons for this, it was clear that former Super League stars John Bateman, Elliott Whitehead, Josh Hodgson and Ryan Sutton, who were teammates of Sezer at Canberra last season, had played their part.

“I liaised with all the English boys before I came over because I knew they had spent a lot of their careers over here,” Sezer explained.

“I am a big football fan, a big Liverpool fan, and I was always excited to come over and I’m really enjoying it, it is everything they said it would be.

“They anticipated I would enjoy it and I would get on really well with all the English lads, which has proved to be the case, so it has been a smooth transition.”

Having racked over 150 NRL appearances before his move to England, Sezer brings experience and quality in equal amounts to Super League.

The two-time Indigenous All Star says he is still unsure as to how the competition’s compare, but did admit to be taken back by the quality he has experienced at the Giants.

“Obviously I haven’t had much time here, but my initial thoughts are there is a lot of skill in this competition, there is a lot of skill in the squad we have at Huddersfield.

“Lee Gaskell, Adam O’Brien and some of the forwards, like Matty English, have really showed me that this comp, and the squad we have, is not short on quality.

“In terms of it matching up to the NRL, it is hard to say, they are both great comps with their own styles and I’ve enjoyed playing and watching both.”

Having only just survived relegation on the final day of last season, Huddersfield’s impressive start to the 2020 campaign has surprised many.

Despite this, Sezer doesn’t feel they have overachieved so far and recognises they face much tougher challenges when the season resumes

“The big clubs are always going to be strong, they are the big clubs for a reason and we will have to find a way to match up to them at some point.

“I haven’t really thought about it (overachieving) too much because our aim is always to be competitive in every game.

“It’s always better to go under the radar, there is less pressure, but to be honest, like I said, it’s not really something I have thought about since joining the Giants.

“We want to challenge and continue to improve once we are up and running [again] and it’s a case of making ourselves hard to beat, which we have done pretty well so far.”