Huddersfield Giants coach Luke Robinson on why the signs are good for 2025 season

Sunday’s performance against Warrington Wolves merely served to underline that belief.

Huddersfield may have lost 20-12 to a Sam Burgess-led side fancied by many to be competing for the honours come season’s end, but they led at half-time and were only two points adrift going into the final five minutes.

An eight-point margin of defeat looks a lot better than the 66-0 shellacking Warrington administered on Huddersfield just five months ago as the Giants’ miserable 2024 campaign withered away.

But now installed as head coach on a permanent basis, Robinson sees a much brighter 2025 ahead if they can replicate the same level of desire and commitment that so impressed him at the John Smith’s Stadium on Sunday.

“I’ve definitely seen enough there,” he said. “I’ve said all along that we’ve had a really disjointed pre-season with five of my starting 17 out at the moment, we’ve had a lot players out, but the lads have stuck together really well, they’ve really bought into everything me and the coaches have placed upon them and I think the signs are really good.”

Game-management was an area Robinson wants his players to focus on as they build towards next Sunday’s trip to Leigh Leopards and beyond.

Repeatedly giving the ball back to Warrington gave their opponents a way back into the game, and their inability to handle the Wolves slowing the play at the ruck, were two areas he wants to see improvement in.

Defensively, Robinson felt his players were “sensational”.

“You look at the tries they scored and it was only after sustained pressure from long periods of time,” he added.

“Our defence was really good – we just had to do too much of it.”

The impact of Danny Richardson at scrum-half was also invaluable.

The 26-year-old is only at the club on a two-week emergency loan from Hull Kingston Rovers but made a positive impression.

“I thought Danny was really good,” said Robinson. “It’s very difficult, being someone who’s played half-back, I understand that it’s not easy coming in like this.

“He’s only trained with us three times so he doesn’t know all the boys yet, so for him to come in and control the side and kick, I thought he showed a lot of good touches and he’ll only get better the more he trains with us and the more game time he can get with the lads.”

Robinson may need another emergency loan before the trip to Leigh next week.

Sunday’s Super League opener left him with two more injuries, both of which are doubtful for round two.

“Sam Hewitt has either broken a rib or it’s popped out, but he played on for the rest of the first half,” said Robinson. “We needed him to stay on because of the injuries we’ve got.

“It’s too early to tell if he’ll be back.

“Harry Rushton went off with a head knock and they’re doing an assessment, so those two are probably doubts.”