'A bit of a bluff': Ian Watson makes admission after Huddersfield Giants take 'step back'

Watson's men appeared to have turned a corner in the 50-8 drubbing of Castleford Tigers, only to be handed a reality check by the Robins.

The Giants conceded five tries in the John Smith's Stadium clash and only got on the board late on through Kevin Naiqama and Adam Swift.

"The first four were really good in terms of stepping forward every single week," said Watson, whose side have lost three of their opening five games.

"This was a little bit of a bump and a step back. Maybe last week was a bit of a bluff in terms of the confidence and the way we were attacking. Everything looked really crisp.

"This one was a little bit more frustrating because we stepped back slightly from where we were.

"Every week you want to try and get better at this time of the year."

Huddersfield return to action at home to Hull FC in the Challenge Cup sixth round on Saturday.

Watson has called on his team to get back to their methodical best against the beleaguered Black and Whites.

"The game at the start of the year is a pretty simple one – complete your sets and turn the ball over well," he added.

"It's an ability to be able to do it. When you get field position you've got to be clinical and take some energy out of the opposition. We didn't do that.

"Our attack looked really poor. Every week we'd got better and better but we stepped back here.

"Fundamental skills was where we fell down. There's no point beating around the bush - there was some real poor stuff in terms of the way we attacked.

"We had one set and Chris Hill looked like he was our number seven trying to organise our attack. That's not how we practice, not how we train."

Sam Halsall endured a difficult afternoon against KR, making two mistakes that led to tries in a hard-fought first half.

Watson has backed the winger to bounce back quickly.

"He's a good kid," said Watson.

"He tries real hard. He works hard in training to rectify those.

"Not everything is going to go perfect for you. He made some tough errors but he's a young player with a great career and future ahead of him. He'll learn from that."