Round 2
Huddersfield Giants 6 l. St Helens 23

2009 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Saints overcome spirited Huddersfield
Mon February 23, 2009
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Sean Long kicked his 1,000th goal for St Helens as they overcame a spirited Huddersfield Giants 23-6 to make it two wins out of two at the start of engage uper League XIV.

Ironically, Long had another off day with the boot, missing four of his five conversion attempts, but his drop goal two minutes from the end wrapped up victory at the Galpharm Stadium.

New signing Tony Puletua had earlier broken the deadlock with his first try in engage Super League while England winger Ade Gardner also got on the scoresheet on his 200th appearance for the club.

Long kicked just one goal from six attempts in Saints' opening 26-14 win over Warrington Wolves and his misses looked likely to be more costly this time as Saints failed to kill off a plucky Giants side until the last five minutes.

St Helens made light of the absence of regular prop forwards Jason Cayless and James Graham thanks largely to an outstanding display of powerful running from Puletua, the former New Zealand forward looking a class act.

Huddersfield captain Brett Hodgson gave his side an early lead with a penalty and they had the lion's share of possession, but came up against a stonewall defence.

Saints were far more inventive and threatening in attack, with half-backs Leon Pryce and Long pulling the strings in familiar fashion.

They combined to get full-back Paul Wellens over for the first try on 14 minutes, while Long's solo break five minutes later set up the position from which Gardner scored his landmark try.

When centre Lee Gilmour scythed through for a third try on 31 minutes, St Helens looked to be running away with the game.

But Long's misses left the score at 12-2 at the break and Huddersfield came back into contention when centre Paul Whatuira re-gathered Luke Robinson's chip over the defence to score five minutes into the second half.

That gave the Giants all the encouragement they needed and, with loan hooker Scott Moore inspirational against his old team-mates, they forced Saints onto the back foot.

As Huddersfield piled on the pressure, the visitors came up with a series of errors, and both Brett Hodgson and Simon Finnigan reached the tryline without being able to ground the ball.

Puletua then came to the rescue, plunging over from close range and near enough to the posts to allow Long his first success with the boot.

Long then added his landmark drop goal before substitute Gary Wheeler's injury-time try gave the visitors a flattering margin of victory.


Brown keen for improvement ahead of Saints clash
Fri February 20, 2009
Source: www.giantsrl.com

Giants Head Coach Nathan Brown revealed his delight at the side's opening day victory against Catalans Dragons in Round 1. Brown insists he is keen to see further improvement as the side prepare to face off against St Helens at the Galpharm Stadium on Sunday (3.00pm).

"All in all we were happy with the result and the way we started. Like most sides who won at the weekend, we probably think we've got a fair bit of improvement in the side. When there was adversity going against us the guys battled through and held the opposition out, which is pleasing. It is something we worked on and spoke about, it was pleasing that it happened, and against decent opposition too."

The Giants have also been praised for an open and exciting brand of Rugby League which saw the side score some impressive tries at the Stade Gilbert Brutus, Brown insists he is keen to promote this, although acknowledges that balance is key.

"If we can use the ball then the movement will be good. Like anything, it's about balance and there's times we won't be able to do it. Catalans were a pretty big side at the weekend so moving the ball around was something that we used to help benefit us late in each half. Different weeks and different conditions may make us do things a little bit differently but all in all it is an attractive style of play in the Super League so that's something most sides would like to do a little bit of."

As thoughts turned to the Round 2 clash against the Challenge Cup holders, Brown revealed to giantsrl.com he is keen for his troops to achieve consistency following their opening day victory.

"Obviously Saints have got some pretty good players and they've been playing pretty well for a while now. It should be a good challenge for us. We need to build and improve each week, and consistently perform for long periods. Warrington did pretty well against Saints in Round 1, but not quite for long enough, and that's what you have got to do against good sides."

Brown is also looking forward to his first home Super League game as Giants chief, and with a big crowd expected, it is sure to be a fantastic atmosphere at the Galpharm Stadium.

"Everyone likes to experience the atmosphere whether you're playing, coaching or in the crowd itself, I think its one of the great things about sport. We'd like to think we'll have a really good crowd. They tell me that the first game is usually one of the biggest games of the year. Both sides won in the opening round and I'm told St Helens travel pretty well so it all points towards a great occasion."

Primary school children go free at the Giants which means a family of four can watch the Giants from as little as 33 pounds, when adults pre-purchase their tickets. Tickets are 2 pounds cheaper when bought prior to matchday.

The Galpharm Ticket Office is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-12 midday. The Ticket Hotline is 0870 44 44 552 or online on www.giantsrl.com

Huddersfield Giants v St Helens, Sunday 22nd February, kick off 3.00pm.

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