Cudjoe was sensational, hails Brown as centre hits form

It was fitting that Huddersfield-born duo Leroy Cudjoe and Jermaine McGillvary grabbed two tries each to secure top billing for the Giants, while Halifax-born Joe Wardle picked up two tries, and returning Danny Brough gathered 18 points with a try and seven conversions.

Injury-hit Giants had benefited from a fortnight’s break due to the Challenge Cup final weekend, welcoming back Brough and Dale Ferguson.

Huddersfield have an impressive home record in Super League, only Wigan taking points off them back in March with a 20-6 reversal.

But yesterday was their first home match for five weeks, and after seven successive defeats on the road, coach Nathan Brown was desperate to rediscover that winning feeling and boost confidence amongst the Giants ahead of the end-of-season play-offs.

With a near full-strength squad, Huddersfield captain Kevin Brown is happy to be tagged as play-off underdogs.

“We have spoken as a group about the fact that people are writing us off, it’s even better for us because when we are playing well we know what we are capable of,” he said.

“There aren’t many sides that will go into a play-off series with a near fully fit squad and we will be one of those so it’s something we are looking forward too.”

Huddersfield were given the perfect start after 10 minutes when Cudjoe celebrated his 100th appearance with a try, crashing over after a sustained spell of opening pressure.

With the attacking flair of Kevin Brown, Luke Robinson and Brough to the fore, if they can keep this trio fit, the Giants will be a contender come the play-offs.

It is Huddersfield’s defence which needs to tighten up, and they were fortunate that Harlequins’ Chris Melling fumbled the ball with the line at the left winger’s mercy.

But that was a rare lapse in the opening half, as Huddersfield increased their advantage when swift hands from Brown created the gap and centre Wardle nipped in for a try.

Brough converted both tries and had a helping boot in Huddersfield’s third try. A towering kick from the scrum-half was plucked out of the air by Cudjoe, and the supporting Graeme Horne was left with a simple mission to score, Brough converting to make it 18-0.

It took a rare mistake from Brown to gift the visitors their opening score. Eager to snatch a fourth try before half-time, his pass was intercepted by Melling who raced from the halfway line to score a try, converted by Luke Gale.

But the Giants were to have the final say before the break as winger McGillvary squeezed in at the corner after good work from Scott Grix. The only surprise for the 5,220 crowd was that Brough missed the long-range conversion to leave the hosts leading 22-6 at half-time.

McGillvary didn’t have long to wait for his second try, chasing a chip over the top, before a nifty bit of footwork saw him kick the loose ball into space and leave Brough with a simple conversion.

It was a frenetic start by Giants. On the other wing, Michael Lawrence came close to his first try of the afternoon, but was pushed into touch by the Harlequins covering defence.

The respite didn’t last long though, this time Cudjoe turned provider to send in Brough for a try he converted himself.

Cudjoe was having an inspired afternoon, popping up next in defence to deny Tony Clubb when the Harlequins player looked destined to score when he jumped highest for a lofted kick.

The visitors did break the Huddersfield defence when Clubb scrambled over, Gale converting, but it was a mere consolation for the London side.

Normal service was restored and it again involved Brough’s astute kicking. With no obvious play, he aimed high to the corner, McGillvary tapped the ball back into play, and Wardle was the benefactor from a well-worked move.

The visitors were being run ragged now, and Cudjoe grabbed his second try of the afternoon, while Grix crossed after a superb break from McGillvary.

Huddersfield: Grix, Lawrence, Cudjoe, Wardle, McGillvary, Brown, Brough, Crabtree, Robinson, Griffin, Gilmour, Fa’alogo, Ferguson. Substitutes: Raleigh, Patrick, Faiumu, Horne.

Harlequins: Sarginson, Melling, Clubb, O’Callaghan, Calderwood, Dorn, Gale, Temata, Randall, Ward, Burnett, Purdham, Bailey. Substitutes: Wilkes, Ambler, Krasniqi, Bolger.

Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse).

Cudjoe was sensational, hails Brown as centre hits form

Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown hailed the skills of centre Leroy Cudjoe after the academy product helped destroy Harlequins in a nine-try romp.

Cudjoe scored twice and set up another two on his 100th appearance just days after signing a new four-year contract with his hometown club as the Giants ran out 50-12 winners.

Brown said: “Leroy was sensational. All he needs to do is believe in himself more.

“The more he believes in himself, the better a player he will be.

“He has so many natural skills that a coach can’t teach.

“People will talk about the tries he scored and the ones he set up. But he also saved tries as well.

“He has a lot of tricks in his box.

“Look at how he held up Tony Clubb on the try-line in the second half.

“He’s a big player and yet Leroy stopped him.”

The victory secured fourth place in the Engage Super League ahead of the play-offs.

Brown added: “We didn’t talk about where we wanted to finish at the start of the season. We just wanted to be a good and consistent side.

“If you’d have said to us that we’d suffer a lot of injuries but still finish fourth, I think we’d have taken it.

“We had our best week in training for some time, and it’s no coincidence that our key players are back with us.”

Joe Wardle and Jermaine McGillvary also scored twice, while Danny Brough crossed once and added seven conversions. He has now scored 102 goals since he joined from Wakefield.

Disappointed Quins coach Rob Powell said: “We did a lot of good things and threw some strong stuff at them in the first half.

“But I’m disappointed at how we finished the game – 34-12 was a fairer reflection.

“We shouldn’t have let them score three tries in the last five minutes.

“It probably sums up our season.

“We’ve been let down by not doing the things that we needed to do in games.

“What we need for next season is players with more experience and wisdom.

“It’s been a relatively tough year for us results-wise, but I think there are positives for us to build on.”