Brough hoping underdogs Giants can sneak under radar

That is perhaps too broad a stroke but in essence everyone knows four straight wins – three, in some cases – will see your side crowned Super League champions.

It is something Brough will remind his charges as they face Hull FC at the KC Stadium tomorrow evening in possibly the most finely balanced of this weekend’s opening fixtures.

Huddersfield, of course, slumped from early season leaders to become mired in a wretched run of form which left them at one point in danger of even missing out on the eight.

Yet all the hallmarks of their previous guise were there to be seen again in a brilliant 48-24 win over Leeds Rhinos on Sunday.

Despite being down to 12 men for more than an hour, all their poise, conviction and swagger returned to leave onlookers suggesting they could now be dark horses to fire all the way.

Traditionally, Huddersfield do not have happy memories of this time of year; they bombed 47-0 at Warrington 12 months ago before being ousted by Leeds and lost twice in 2009 against St Helens and Catalan.

In 2010 they got to within 80 minutes of Old Trafford only to run out of steam at Saints again.

England scrum-half Brough, however, believes the pressure is off after their season of turmoil.

“I suppose nobody gave us a chance against Leeds and we’ll be hoping the same again at Hull,” he told the Yorkshire Post.

“We’d like to sneak under the radar and put another performance in.

“It’s always tough over there – Hull are a quality, physical side, with a massive crowd behind them – but we really want to put a statement down that we can challenge to get to Old Trafford.

“Apart from the sending-off, everything went right against Leeds. We dug in, put our bodies on the line and that’s what the old Huddersfield used to be.

“Everyone was working for each other and we need the same again at Hull.

“We’ve become a tight-knit group. Losing – we’d won just one from 10 before Leeds – brings you closer together and it seems to have done that. It’s paid off.”

But some would point to Brough’s appointment as captain – tomorrow will only be his second game as captain – as the timely boost needed to invigorate the Giants.

However, ahead of his return to the club where he won the 2005 Challenge Cup, he insisted: “It’s not down to me.

“I’m not one to do a lot of talking. What I have said the lads have done and I’ve told them if there’s anything they can say to me I’ll do it too.

“The response has been good but now we just need consistency, something we’ve not had before.”

Hull, who welcome back prop Sam Moa and have seen England Knights hooker Danny Houghton sign a new deal until the end of 2017, are almost impregnable at home this term.

They have only lost to Wigan in Super League but Huddersfield did knock them out of the Challenge Cup there in April and defeated Peter Gentle’s side at the Galpharm.

Unsurprisingly, coach Paul Anderson is set to retain the same side that swept past Leeds.