Huddersfield Giants have won their first game since early April, a period of 112 days, and head coach Jim Lenihan has now offered his verdict.
Despite leading 24-10 with just over 10 minutes to go, the Giants made it nervy for themselves as they conceded two quickfire tries to lead by just two points heading into the final five minutes, however, they held on to win 24-22.
Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Lenihan joked: “Never in doubt. The whole game, we were very confident through to the very end.”
He’d add: “I’m really happy for the players. Once we lost Niall (Evalds) early in the first half, we had a lot of switching around, we had back-rowers out in the backs.
“I’m just happy for the players, happy for the supporters, happy for the club just to get a win.”
Huddersfield Giants hang on to land first win
Speaking more on the fact his side were able to hold on, Lenihan highlighted how important it was to take advantage of the platform that his side had set for themselves.
He said: “I think we just managed to believe in ourselves to get there. We deserved an opportunity to win the game.
“It got through the set, got a bit hairy at the back end there, and we sort of lost our way a touch, but steadied the boat, got to the end of the set and won the game, which was good.”
Effort areas were won by the Giants and that ultimately proved the difference in a tight game, with Lenihan explaining: “We’ve been working really hard on the effort in our game. It’s not an easy thing to measure. It’s a lot about the invisible parts of football. We’re learning that, and we’re learning how the better sides do that for longer in games.
“At the moment, we are putting those patches together better. We look forward to the back end of the year. We look forward to competing as much as we possibly can and getting better as a football team.”
Now just four points behind Hull FC, who they play on Thursday night, there is a chance that Huddersfield will not finish at the foot of the table but the Giants boss was keen to stress that he remains focused on performances.
He said: “Every game’s a big game, and like I said, we try to win every week. We don’t want to be at the bottom of the table, but at the moment, it’s our performance that’s the most important part of us, and us growing as a football group and learning how we can be a better football team.
“At the moment, we’re getting moments and flashes of that. Today was just a good game to give us a little bit of relief, gives us a little bit of confidence in what we’re doing, and puts us into a good position moving back at the end of the year to keep competing.
Lenihan also paid tribute to Man of the Match Harry Rushton, stating: “Harry’s a really influential player in the team. He’s someone who we’ve really worked hard at him getting over the edge line and getting down onto the ground and getting his elbows and knees dirty and trying to get their big boys going backwards.
“I thought that’s another part of our game that we’ve got to get better at, our pack taking on other packs and actually tiring them out and forcing them into a different situation in the way they want to play, and I felt like we did that again today.”
WINNER WINNER, YORK KNIGHTS FOR DINNER! 😋#GiantsUnleashed | @bondituk 🤝 pic.twitter.com/8ZeBd2ku1C
— Huddersfield Giants 🐮🔔 (@Giantsrl) July 25, 2026
The Joker
July 25, 2026 at 6:01 pm
Enjoy it for now – it won’t last.