Ian Watson explains shock defeat to Hull FC

Huddersfield Giants suffered a surprise defeat against Hull FC yesterday as the Black and Whites ended their seven game losing run to claim a 20-14 win.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds, Olly Russell said the Giants got what they deserved:

“We got what we deserved today, I think the players that have come on the field today have probably thought it was going to bit a little bit easier than it actually has. You can’t do that at this level. I’m a bit gutted, we’ll come back after the international break and desperately need to start picking up points if we want to get into the top six.”

This was something Huddersfield boss Ian Watson echoed as he explained why his side lost to Hull FC:

“I think Hull were the better team, they showed up with the right intent and attitude and they showed that right away at the start of both halves.

“They kind of dominated through a defence first mentality.

“Effort areas is a big one, it’s something we saw that Tony had spoke about and he’d challenged them to be better than us in those areas, because that’s what we’re normally good in.

“I’d say that today they won them areas. They were more physical and they outworked us.

“I think the try in the corner that Sam kind of bombed if you like, I think there was other opportunities we had and we just weren’t decisive in what we were doing.

“We looked second to everything whereas they were really proactive and I think their efforts got them the result.

“The game is a real simple game and if you turn up with a real good attitude defensively and you work really hard for each other then nine times out of ten you’ll get the result on the back of that.

“Credit to the Hull crowd, they were really loud and they were trying to drag them to a win. They were really enthusiastic.”

Concerningly, the Giants suffered a troublesome triple blow:

“Will Pryce aggravated his ankle in the first half, we’ll see where Olly Wilson gets to after today but I’d probably say them two. Nathan Peats had a little bit of a hand injury as well but I’d say the one that looks the most serious at the moment is Prycey.”

Asked about Jake Connor’s involvement in the game against his former club, Watson said:

“I thought good, I thought we could have got some more shape coming out of yardage early doors to ask a few more questions but we were getting physically beat up by their pack.

“That meant we weren’t getting into the right positions to play with some shape, so when we did he got shut down a little bit. I thought the more the game got going and became a little bit more loose you started to see some good touches from Jake.

“His kicking game in the first half, his short kicking game. It was kind of our long kicks if you like that weren’t being put deep enough. Litten was catching them on the 30 or the 20 and we weren’t putting them where we needed them.”