When you consider sides who’ll be disappointed with 2021, Huddersfield and Leigh are probably top of the list. At the start of the year everyone tipped the Giants to make the play-offs or even the top four but it’s been a struggle with injuries and other issues for Ian Watson’s men. As for Leigh, they simply wanted to survive but have failed to do so despite a valiant effort. Today, the two sides meet to close the book on the 2021 regular season.
The Giants came up with an encouraging win away to the league leaders last weekend. Granted, Catalans rested plenty of their stars but the triumph is something Huddersfield can build on. They’ll certainly be hoping to use the momentum generated to claim another win today so they can go into the off-season full of optimism. Following that win, I don’t think Ian Watson will make many changes. In fact, he may just make the one. With Jake Wardle unavailable, it’s possible Leroy Cudjoe will step into the centres whilst Jermaine McGillvary comes onto the wing. The likes of Olly Ashall-Bott, Nathaniel Peteru and Nathan Peats will all make farewell appearances.
Meanwhile, Leigh will be making a farewell of their own as they drop back to the Championship. That said, it’s still possible that they could end the season with back-to-back wins if they can conjure up their first away triumph of the season. They too won’t make many changes having beaten Wakefield last time out. So it’s very possible that the only change sees Junior Sa’u come onto the wing to accommodate Ben Hellewell’s return to the pack lessening the blow of Nathan Mason’s absence. Interestingly, he’s headed back to Huddersfield next season
Huddersfield
31 Olly Ashall-Bott
2 Jermaine McGillvary
21 Leroy Cudjoe
4 Ricky Leutele
24 Louis Senior
23 Oliver Russell
16 Jack Cogger
20 Oliver Wilson
35 Nathan Peats
14 Matty English
13 Josh Jones
17 Chris McQueen
10 Michael Lawrence
Substitutes
15 Joe Greenwood
25 Owen Trout
32 Will Pryce
34 Nathanial Peteru
Leigh
1 Ryan Brierley
4 Junior Sa’u
35 Jack Logan
3 Iain Thornley
25 Brendan Elliot
7 Joe Mellor
13 James Bell
20 Adam Sidlow
9 Liam Hood
33 Rob Butler
11 Ben Hellewell
36 Sam Stone
37 Jai Whitbread
Substitutes
12 Jordan Thompson
15 Alex Gerrard
17 Jamie Ellis
34 Jack Ashworth
