Huddersfield Giants boss Luke Robinson has admitted his side has already made more progress in this pre-season that they did at this stage last year, as the club hope for a significantly improved season.
Robinson’s men finished 10th in the league, and didn’t earn their first win until Magic Weekend in May. Injuries hampered their season, as they relied on youth and fringe players to play the majority of their games, which led to their lowest finish since 2019.
However, the former half-back is positive the club will be able to turn it around, and there is a wave of positivity that is currently running throughout the club.
On the back of owner Ken Davy’s optimistic speech about them winning a Grand Final, the head coach delivered a pre-season update, and revealed his squad are developing exceptionally well, despite only being a few weeks in.
“I’ve been very impressed,” Robinson said to the Giants’ social channels. “The lads got given some markers that they needed to come back at, some physical ones and some skill-based ones, and they’ve all come back in pretty good shape.
“It’s been a real good foundation for us so far. We’ve made some really good strides, more strides than we did last year. So, it’s looking good at the moment.”
Huddersfield have brought in three new additions to the 2026 squad, whilst Niall Evalds has also signed on a permanent deal. Given their struggles last year, it was expected that the club make a lot more additions than that, but Robinson is confident, with the players at hand, they can climb up the table next year.
Commenting on each addition, he said: “Chris [Patolo] is a big unit. He moves extremely well for a big man. He’s really quick, so he’s going to add some leg speed into that middle.
“[Mathieu] Cozza is really skilful. Speaking to the lads at Wakefield, they talk about him really well. There were a lot of people there a bit gutted that he’d left. He’s got some good traits, he’s a bit of a ball-playing loose forward, so he’s got a bit of skill about him, and he’s really astute around the ruck.
“Asher [O’Donnell], on an edge, I think he’s going to be a diamond in the rough for us. A lot of people don’t know about him because he’s only 22 years old, he’s still in the infancy of his career. He’s still learning, He’s still progressing, but he’s fast, he’s strong, and he’s going to cause some problems on an edge.
“He’s going to give us that little bit of punch on an edge that I felt we were missing a bit this year, and he’s definitely going to bring.”
“He’s one of us!” – Huddersfield Giants boss praises Leroy Cudjoe as he becomes club’s assistant boss
One of the reasons the boss isn’t worried about the lack of new recruits is the fact they have so many players coming back from long-term injuries. The likes of Tui Lolohea and Adam Clune are back in full training, and with a full pre-season working together, Robinson is confident they can be a successful partnership.
“Although it probably doesn’t seem like we’ve signed a lot of players, it feels like we’ve got a lot of new players. Last year, there were a fair few that didn’t actually play, Niall played 30 minute at Salford before he broke his foot. Niall feels like a brand new player, he’s added some real zip to us, he’s been really good.
“If we can get Tui and Cluney back on the field, and not only playing together again but training together, it’s definitely going to stand us in good stead.”
The club have also made a change to the backroom staff, with club legend Leroy Cudjoe joining Robinson’s team. Whilst he will also serve as a transition coach between the academy and the first team, his role as an assistant boss is already proving successful.
“He’s not one of them anymore, he’s one of us!” Robinson said. “He’s taken to it like a duck to water. He’s always been a really intelligent player. He’s always thought about the game. As a player, you’re always the first one to come to you and ask you about certain plays and certain times and he’s already gone home and watched it by himself all the videos.
“He’s always been into that side of the game. For us, it’s given us an extra coach. It’s more eyes, and probably we were probably a little bit sparse in the coaching department last year, it was just me and Finny [Liam Finn]. Having three people now has made a huge difference to how much input we can give the players, but especially somebody of his knowledge and experience has been brilliant.”
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