“The results don’t matter” – Huddersfield Giants’ boss positive despite loss

Ian Watson has put fans’ minds at rest with confirmation that star man Jake Connor isn’t badly injured from the knock he picked up in Huddersfield Giants’ loss against Castleford Tigers.

The clash saw the two Super League sides come together for Tigers captain Paul McShane with the match serving as his testimonial game following 15 years in the sport.

McShane came out on the winning side in a game that was very uncharacteristic for pre-season with the first half being completely scoreless.

The second half made up for that though with the home side getting on the board early and retaining a lead to the end as they won 20-14 with three tries coming from new signings.

For Huddersfield Giants, it signalled the first loss of their pre-season with previous wide-margin victories against Dewsbury Rams and London Broncos.

Despite the defeat head coach Ian Watson has spoken in a positive manner when assessing the game in a video posted to the Huddersfield Giants’ YouTube channel.

Watson explained: “The results don’t matter in pre-season. We’ve said it when we were winning, it doesn’t matter in pre-season. It’s about getting the players in the right position for where we need them to be.

“Today was about more or less getting through this game healthy, looking forward to the league, just working on a few little things. The first 40 minutes was our biggest focus, if you like, today.

“I thought defensively we were great there, probably a little bit off with the ball, where we turned over too much field position. We were making silly errors a little bit, to be fair, but we’ll tidy that up.

“Last week we were very good with the ball in hand, but obviously different conditions today. We seemed to have a gale-force wind in our face, whichever way we’re playing today.”

Ian Watson confirms positive injury news for Huddersfield Giants star

Whilst the result was immaterial for Watson, the main objective was to get players through healthy and fit so when star player Jake Connor went down with a knock there was plenty of concern.

The full-back played on after a couple of minutes of treatment and Watson has now confirmed that the ex-Hull FC man is fine and ready to help lead Huddersfield Giants into the Super League season.

Watson referenced suspension as well with half-back Tui Lolohea and centre Leroy Cudhoe having already been hit with two-game bans, of which they’ll serve in Super League.

As such both men will miss the opener against Leigh Leopards in just under a fortnight’s time.