Huddersfield Giants boss Ian Watson discusses early 2023 disruption as he provides Jake Connor latest

The Giants are still waiting for their first hit-out of 2023 after seeing last Sunday's pre-season friendly against Bradford Bulls cancelled due to a frozen pitch.

Ian Watson's team will belatedly get the chance to blow away the cobwebs in Nathan Massey's testimonial game at Castleford this Sunday.

By contrast, Leeds and Wakefield have already played three friendlies each and will squeeze a fourth in before round one.

"We're a little bit disappointed we missed out on that first hit-out but it's not a concern for us," Watson told The Yorkshire Post.

"The level of our training has been really high anyway. With some of the guys coming back from the World Cup, they're only a few weeks into their pre-season.

"It's been important not to rush them back into games. Over the next few weeks, that will start to pick up.

"Having Castleford on the 5th is an ideal one for us. The level of training has meant we haven't been hankering for it – but we need that game now."

Huddersfield will be twiddling their thumbs again on the opening weekend with scheduled opponents St Helens in Australia for the World Club Challenge.

It is an unusual start to the year but Watson believes the Giants could feel the benefit as the season evolves after falling away at the back end of 2022.

"In some ways, it's a good thing," said the Huddersfield boss.

"You always like to start when everyone else starts. It would have been great to play Saints straight up at the same time as everyone else.

"But it gives us an extra week for some of the World Cup guys who only came back in January. It's a little bit of a blessing in that way.

"The big thing is that we learn from what happened last year as a coaching team and a playing group."

The Giants were minutes away from winning the Challenge Cup for the first time since 1953 before suffering late heartbreak against Wigan Warriors at Tottenham.

Watson's men recovered impressively to secure third place in Super League, only to go down heavily to Salford Red Devils on home soil in week one of the play-offs.

The Giants had the look of a team that had lost their spark in the final weeks of the season, something Watson puts down to the rate of their improvement.

"If you look where we'd been the last few years sat near the bottom end of the table, the amount of work the boys put in to get to a Challenge Cup final and then into the play-offs after finishing third, it was probably a little bit too far for us in hindsight," he added.

"We'll be better for that. You'd rather be up there finding out about yourselves involved in those challenges than sat down at the bottom end of the table.

"This year, I think we will be better prepared. The quality of the signings and the competition for places should help that as well."

Watson has overseen an eye-catching recruitment drive for 2023, with Jake Connor, Kevin Naiqama and Esan Marsters among the big-name additions.

It is being billed as the strongest and deepest squad in Super League by some, but Watson is respectful of the competition.

"You could probably go down the numbers at every club and say they've got a quality squad," he said.

"Some clubs have kept the nucleus of the players from last year and tweaked their squads, and then you've got other teams who had tough seasons like Warrington who look like they've signed quality.

"You'd expect them to be a hell of a lot stronger, which I think is good for the competition. I think the quality of competition will be through the roof this year.

"We wanted a quality squad so we can compete against each other and on game day in the competition.

"It is probably one of the strongest squads that I've had as a coach."

Daryl Powell's new-look Warrington Wolves are first up for the Giants in round two on February 24.

Huddersfield are likely to be without Connor after the playmaker underwent knee and hand operations during the off-season – but Watson says he is making "awesome" progress.

"We've just got to the next stage of his plan," added Watson. "He's fully running on the field and within the next few weeks he should be fully cleared by the medical team.

"He'll probably have a mini pre-season then with the S&C team and the rugby department. If he comes out of this flying and fully fit, he might be able to jump in quicker than we thought.

"You can never say never on round two but it'll probably be too soon for him. He's probably better aiming for a few rounds in.

"We want a proper Jake Connor coming back; we don't want him coming back in poor condition and risking him getting injured again."