Huddersfield Giants boss Luke Robinson has admitted that he has to speak to the referees to learn more about his side’s ill-discipline after their round one Super League loss at the hands of Catalans Dragons.
Whilst Robinson was vocal on wanting to speak with the referees, he wasn’t shy in giving Catalans credit. Instead, he claimed that Joel Tomkins’ side gave the Giants a ‘lesson on how you play wet weather rugby’.
In horrible conditions in the south of France, Catalans came out as 26-10 victors with Giants’ boss Robinson even admitting that four tries to two perhaps didn’t reflect the Dragons’ dominance, something he attributed to his Huddersfield team’s stern defence.
Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Robinson admitted: “They gave us a lesson on how you play wet weather rugby. I thought Catalans were great. Their two halves put the ball in the pocket over and over again and made us come off our own goal line.
“We made it more difficult for ourselves, it was four tries to two in the end but it probably could have been more. I thought our lads really dug in and really held in there.”
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Expanding on the fact that his side ‘made it more difficult’ for themselves, Robinson pointed to the number of penalties that his team gave away, admitting that he needs to speak to the match officials to see exactly what it is that his side can do to avoid such penalisation.
“The energy battle catches up with you when you’re giving away that many penalties,” he said, adding: “I’ve got to go to the refs and ask what we’ve got to do and how we’ve got to change and adapt.
“We can’t be giving away that many (penalties) but again, I thought Catalans were really good.”
The Giants actually only conceded four penalties but they were pinged for ruck infringement on five separate occasions. By contrast, Catalans Dragons only committed one ruck infringement.
Robinson also pointed to the impact of Catalans’ signings Solomona Faataape, as well as halves Lewis Dodd and Toby Sexton.
“Our right edge was in all sorts of problems, (Solomona) Faataape caused us problems all day,” he said.
“We’ve got to tighten our discipline up because that energy battle comes back to bite you in the end but I thought they were really valiant. They kept going and they stuck at it but we got beat by the better side tonight.
“Them two halves gave us a lesson how to play.”
Faataape led the Dragons in tackle breaks, making six on his twelve carries as he ran for 127 metres, whilst Dodd and Sexton controlled the kicking game.
Defeat in Perpignan#GiantsUnleashed pic.twitter.com/p9JajTbIk8
— Huddersfield Giants 🐮🔔 (@Giantsrl) February 13, 2026
