St Helens v Huddersfield Giants: Ian Watson explains key to improved form ahead of latest test

The Giants barely featured in the pre-season conversations around trophy contenders after stuttering to a ninth-place finish last year.

Views are beginning to change thanks to a five-match winning run that has featured eye-catching victories at Catalans Dragons and Leeds Rhinos.

Watson puts Huddersfield's impressive form down to the continuity in the spine, in stark contrast to last year when he lost Theo Fages and Olly Russell for long periods.

"We've been slowly building and people have been finding their rhythm," said the Huddersfield boss during Wednesday's press conference.

"We've got that little bit of consistency that the spine have built by putting five games together.

"If you're going to be successful, your spine needs to be pretty stable and that's been one of the biggest positives for us.

"We've got a few injuries this year but the area we're not messing about with at the moment is the spine.

"With your forwards, you can tweak them and move them around to suit certain teams or different situations. The one thing you don't want to be messing about with is the spine.

"That was the one that hurt us most last year. We started okay last year but then we lost some spine players and that had a massive impact."

The Giants have won five of their eight games to give Watson's side as many points as they had after 13 rounds last season.

Huddersfield are carrying a greater threat with the ball this year, posting 120 points in their last three games to leave Watson in optimistic mood ahead of tonight’s trip to St Helens, the team with the best defensive record in the competition.

"When you go to a Saints or a Wigan, they're always good tests," said Watson.

"But I think we've had two outstanding tests the last two weeks going to Headingley where you know the crowd are loud and give Leeds a lift with the energy they create. It's the same at Catalans – very hostile.

"We kind of like those environments and embrace going to those places. Players dream about playing in big games and at stadiums that are packed out, not the ones where there's 3,000 there."

Huddersfield have to go back to 2020 for their last win against St Helens, which predates Watson's arrival.

Indeed, Saints are the only Super League club the Giants have failed to defeat during Watson's time in charge.

"We'll have to change that tomorrow," said Watson, who took over ahead of the 2021 season.

"We've spoken this year about being focused every single day and every week. All we're focused on now is the St Helens game.

"We know we've got to start again this week. We know it's going to be tough – it always is at Saints.

"We've had quite a few games against Saints where it's very physical. What they've been good at is doing that for longer periods. We've got to be able to match that."

Huddersfield have not been without their injury issues this year, with Chris Hill, Jack Murchie, Sam Hewitt and Andre Savelio all missing from the pack.

Watson will make changes to his three-quarter line at the Totally Wicked Stadium out of necessity.

"There are a couple of little concerns that we've got that have not come through so there will be a little bit of a change in our outside backs," he said.

"It's nothing too bad. We've just got a couple of niggles and injuries that are taking a bit of time to get over.

"It's to do with the short turnarounds we've had. It's another short turnaround so it's a little bit early for a few people."