Huddersfield Giants boss Ian Watson reveals extent of disruption after 'outstanding' win at Wakefield Trinity

Leroy Cudjoe celebrates the win. (Picture: SWPix.com)

Coming off a winless Easter, Huddersfield faced disruption in the build-up as a flu bug ripped through the camp.

But Watson managed to get a side out on the field and his players produced a committed performance to claim a 14-12 victory that takes the Giants back up to fourth in Super League.

"It's a big, big win for us," said Watson.

Both sets of players were out on their feet at the end of the game. (Picture: SWPix.com)

"It's a huge win, especially with some of the things that have gone on not just this week but today as well in terms of some of the personnel pulling out with the flu going through the camp.

"More so on the back of last week when we felt we didn't do ourselves justice and let ourselves down with the way we played.

"This week we were the complete opposite. We were outstanding and showed a real hunger."

Huddersfield lost Jermaine McGillvary hours before kick-off, while Joe Greenwood and Oliver Russell defied the bug to play important roles in the win at Belle Vue.

Ricky Leutele scores the winning try. (Picture: SWPix.com)

After the game, Watson revealed the extent of the issues in the camp in the build-up.

"I left my house at 4pm and got a call saying five players were struggling," said Watson.

"Two of them (McGillvary and Greenwood) were not expected to get through the warm-up and as we got to the training area, Jez was in no fit state.

"We didn't want him to get on the coach because he was struggling and we didn't want to take any more people down.

"It's been chaotic and the boys have shown an immense amount of character today."

The manner of the victory hands the Giants a boost ahead of their Elland Road date with Hull KR.

Watson believes a similar performance could be good enough to book a place in the Challenge Cup final.

"In terms of the effort and energy, it's up there," he said.

"We'll see if it's good enough. Hopefully we'll put in a performance like that next week.

"Today we showed hunger and desire as a team and a never-say-die attitude."

While Huddersfield ended their winless run, Wakefield were left to reflect on a fifth straight defeat.

Trinity head coach Willie Poching was at a loss to explain his side's performance after going into the break with a 12-4 lead.

"We thought we were in a pretty commanding position at half-time, not just through the scoreboard but through the performance," he said.

"We just didn't quite kick on in the second half. We got ourselves in a position to really kick on and I'm disappointed we weren't able to.

"The second-half performance just wasn't good enough."