Game two of day two pitted two sides that will have likely been disappointed by their season starts and would see Magic Weekend as a possible turning points.
St Helens faced Huddersfield with the teams sat seventh and ninth respectively, the Saints one win outside of the playoffs and the Giants a further four points back.
Ian Watson’s men had snapped a four game losing streak last week with victory over Castleford whereas St Helens came into this game having defeated Leeds by golden point to form a run of three wins.
Matty Leeds returned from suspension whilst Mark Percival made his comeback from injury to make the squad.
🎩 Your Saints' #MagicWeekend line-up has landed!
Percival & Lees return to the starting 13 to face @Giantsrl ✨
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— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) June 4, 2023
Once again Morgan Smithies missed out courtesy of his ban for punching in the Challenge Cup.
As for the Giants they had a debutant in their squad with the experienced Adam Milner set to come off the bench for his first appearance as a Giant.
𝙏𝙀𝘼𝙈 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚫️
Adam Milner will make his Giants debut from the bench this afternoon, let's go. ✌️#CowbellArmy🐮🔔 | #MagicWeekend pic.twitter.com/yHxydrp4gK
— Huddersfield Giants 🐮🔔 (@Giantsrl) June 4, 2023
The full-back position which has been a point of contention was occupied by Tui Lolohea with Jake Connor partnering Theo Fages in the halves.
Highlights
Naiqama haunts Saints
Former St Helens man Kevin Naiqama opened the scoring when he jumped on a kick from Tui Lolohea. The clever kick to the corner left Jack Welsby floundering and when Jake Bibby couldn’t get to it, Naiqama could to punish his former club.
Hurrell hits back
It was a kick that got Saints on the scoreboard as well. Lewis Dodd kicked high and the claim from Batchelor went backwards with Jack Welsby smartly offloading to Konrad Hurrell who was not to be stopped from just 10 metres out.
Percival pushes Saints in front
A slick passing play including offloads from Curtis Sironen allowed Jack Welsby to line up the full-back and play in the support line from Percival who was able to walk over and give Saints the lead on the 20 minute mark.
Yellow for Yates
Giants skipper Luke Yates was the third man into the tackle and took Tommy Makinson’s legs from under him, much to the disgust of pundit Terry O’Connor, and consequently he copped a yellow leaving his team down to 12.
Magic Makinson
Just seconds until Luke Yates came back on and the bodies were even was when Huddersfield conceded. Saints spread it right quickly and that allowed Makinson to dive over right in the corner before converting to make it 16-6.
Saints start second -half quickest
It took just five minutes for St Helens to extend their lead and it was LMS who did so before Makinson converted. Just five minutes later the winger scored himself, before centre Konrad Hurrell scored his second to make it 32-6.
Hatttrick Tommy
With those three early tries all coming within eight second-half minutes the gam got away from Huddersfield incredibly quickly. A lull ensued before Tommy Makinson scored his third of the game to make it 38-6.
More Makinson Magic
Not content with just three tries the winger added a fourth before assisting a Joey Lussick breakaway try that was one for the ages, and one that will be long remembered as one of Magic Weekend’s best ever.
That left the game at a whopping 48-6 with Huddersfield finishing a game with more questions than answers once again.