Interim-coach Liam Finn admitted Huddersfield Giants “have to find a solution” after having a player ruled out of the second half of Friday’s heavy home loss to Leeds Rhinos.
Giants centre Sam Halsall had already gone off with what could be a long-term injury when replacement Taane Milne suffered a head knock in the build-up to a Huddersfield try on the final play of the opening period.
Milne was not wearing an instrumented mouthguard, which measures the force of head impacts and was therefore automatically ruled out of the rest of the match.
Finn explained: “He can’t wear the mouthguard because of his implant. If you go off for an HIA [head injury assessment] with no mouthguard, you can’t come back on. That wasn’t ideal so we have to find a solution for that.”
Halsall’s injury was another concern for Giants. The centre returned from a long-term hamstring layoff, but lasted just 16 minutes before having to be helped from the field.
Finn said: “We don’t know how bad it is; we are hoping it is his calf, as opposed to his Achilles, but we won’t know for a few days.”
It was the Giants’ first loss under Finn, in his third game at the helm and he refused to blame those injuries for the defeat.
He stressed: “It was difficult to get any energy into the middle to compete, but the game was already gone by then.
“It was certainly no major impact on the result. Maybe an impact on the scoreline, but not the result.
“We didn’t give up and scored some points, but that’s not a massive positive – you shouldn’t be giving up if you are a professional rugby league player.”
Giants are back in action on Thursday, away to Leigh Leopards. Finn admitted there were “lots of areas that weren’t acceptable” in yesterday’s performance, but insisted: “We play a really tough sport and in this game sometimes you get kicked in the face.
“We are not a team that has been flying high for the last two or three years, so you are not just going to go from worst to first in three weeks.
“There’s going to be more kicks in the face along the way and it’s how you take those and how you bounce back from them. Bouncing back next week is a massive focus.”
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