Giants resigned to losing star Hodgson to Warrington

HUDDERSFIELD coach Nathan Brown is looking to get as much as he can from captain Brett Hodgson before the full-back leaves for a new life in Warrington.

Hodgson was missing through injury for the Giants' seven-try engage Super League victory over a lacklustre Crusaders at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground yesterday after Huddersfield announced on Saturday that he could not agree new contract terms.

Wing David Hodgson went over for three of his side's seven tries as they beat the Crusaders 38-10, with Kevin Brown, Leroy Cudjoe, Scott Grix and Brad Drew getting the others.

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Danny Brough booted five conversions while all the Crusaders could show for their efforts was a try each from second row Weller Hauraki and centre Luke Dyer.

Brown later said he would be looking to get a quality replacement for Brett Hodgson, saying: "It is a gain for Warrington as they have him with them but, from our point of view, we have got him for the rest of the year and that will be great."

Warrington's Richie Mathers has been mentioned as possibly coming the other way to replace Hodgson.

"As a coach, your job is to come up with the best replacement possible. Maybe he can educate a few of our full-backs along the way.

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"Everyone knows what he has done for the club and what he is going to continue doing for us this year. Whether that replacement is someone within our club or outside, we will move forward."

Brown also confirmed that it was a case of Hodgson being offered a two-year deal at Warrington and rejecting a one-year contract to remain at the Giants which was the difference between him staying and going.

As for the game, he said: "I was taking a bit of a chance with the squad because some of the players had been ruled out over Easter but we got a good result and the blokes who went in there did a good job. We will get our rewards as the year goes on."

The Crusaders soon found themselves behind after two sucker-punches in the opening seven minutes.

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First, Kevin Brown surged through the midfield to score the first Huddersfield try near the posts.

The Giants then caught the Crusaders napping again with a neat chip to the corner which went straight past the defence and gave wing Hodgson the easiest of scoring touchdowns.

Brough converted both to give the Giants a 12-0 lead. But the Crusaders fought back through the forwards and Hauraki crossed for a try.

The Giants galvanised themselves to score points either side of half-time as the gap grew again in their favour to 24-6.

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Leroy Cudjoe took a scoring pass from hooker Graeme Horne to post the third Huddersfield touchdown of the match and, on 46 minutes, second row Lee Gilmour raced past the home defence to set up substitute Scott Grix with the scoring pass.

The Crusaders tried hard but their downfall was their pass-catching. They created opportunities but a combination of stout Giants cover and inability to take the passes caused knock-ons.

Eventually, however, they grabbed a second try when a kick-through to the corner saw centre Dyer outpace the visiting cover to get the score.

But that was all the Crusaders could manage as Huddersfield upped the pace and cruised to victory.

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Substitute Brad Drew was on hand to grab their fifth try of the match when he took the ball from a charge upfield to score unopposed by the posts.

And then Hodgson sealed his hat-trick with two tries in the final eight minutes, both of them simple corner run-ins, with the Crusaders looking tired from their efforts.

Crusaders RL: Schifcofske, Thomas, Dyer, Mellars, Youngquest, Witt, Lupton, O'Hara, Withers, Bryant, Hauraki, Chan, Winternstein. Substitutes: Thackray, Peek, Flower, White.

Huddersfield: Cudjoe, Lolesi, Lawrence, Whaturia, D. Hodgson, Brown, Brough, D. Griffin, Horne, Mason, Gilmour, Fa'alogo, Faiumu. Substitutes: Crabtree, Patrick, Drew, Grix.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington)