Interview - Graeme Horne: Brothers locking Hornes for first time in intriguing battle

Being told you are no longer wanted by the club where you have spent your entire career is not easy to stomach.

When it is your home city side, the place you love and grew up at, and your own brother is even a team-mate, it does not take a genius to see why Graeme Horne was distraught when suffering the dreaded axe at Hull FC.

The utility player – a tag that may have hindered more than helped him during his time with the Airlie Birds – was not the only one; Richard Agar cleared 10 players from his 2009 roster after a season to forget but none will have felt the rejection quite as deeply.

A few months on, as he prepares for his first visit back to the KC Stadium with new club Huddersfield Giants tonight, Horne has a smile on his face again.

He can even readily admit his former coach probably did him a favour.

"You get set in your ways a bit," said Horne, who had played more than 100 Super League games for Hull, most off the bench, since debuting as a skinny 17 year-old.

"I was there eight years – not long off my testimonial – and you sort of miss the little things that made you a good player to start with.

"I've come here to Huddersfield and that's what sparked me into it again.

"I spoke to Rich at the end of the year and he said he had to make changes. That was the top and bottom of it.

"I get on with Rich and he's a great bloke. He was real honest and thought moving on would be better for my development.

"He just said it might probably do me good and he was right. I'm really enjoying it with Huddersfield.

"It was hard leaving Hull but that's gone and I'm happy here."

Part of the reason Horne, 24, is so enthusiastic about his new employers is the influence of coach Nathan Brown.

The Australian won Super League Coach of the Year in his debut campaign last season and Horne fully understands why.

"I've learned so much already being under Nathan," he said about the man who revitalised the Giants, taking them to Wembley and third place.

"He's a brilliant coach both one-on-one and for us as a team – he's second to none.

"I've only been with him eight weeks and know that already.

"My fitness has got a lot better through 'Bumper' (conditioner Mark Andrews) and Browny pushing me a bit more and he's worked on little key things which other people probably won't see.

"The main one is effort. I think I was probably a bit lazy in some areas last year and Browny picked me up on that.

"He told me I had to improve there and it will make me a better player. I have started to do that and feel better for it.

"The change is what I needed. I'm glad I have done it."

Horne operated mainly at centre for Hull last season when he missed just four games but during his career there he also covered half-back, hooker, second-row and loose-forward and was a member of the 2006 Challenge Cup final side that lost to St Helens at Wembley.

Such versatility was partly the reason he never established himself as successfully with the Black and Whites as his more famous elder brother Richard, the stand-off currently enjoying his testimonial and forming a half-back combination with Sean Long that supporters hope will transform the club's fortunes. Some believe the younger sibling was not quite big enough to make a top back-row yet not fast enough to succeed as a quality centre.

Brown, however, obviously sees undeniable talent.

Horne says he has been earmarked predominantly as a back-row at the Galpharm and, especially given injuries to Stephen Wild, Simon Finnigan and Danny Kirmond, it was no surprise to see him there on debut when his new side ruthlessly swept aside Bradford Bulls last Friday.

The following evening, Hull were even more striking in their Round One destruction of Grand Final runners-up St Helens, meaning tonight's meeting between two Yorkshire sides, each with genuine ambitions for 2010, is hugely intriguing.

Can Huddersfield, who showed against Bradford they have lost none of the steely determination that made them last season's tightest team in Super League, nullify the threats posed by a vibrant Hull side who so easily dissected Saints at Knowsley Road?

And will Hull – with Agar having made those sweeping off-season changes – build on that exhilarating performance?

"They did really well at St Helens," said Horne, who turned down the Crusaders to sign a 12-month deal with Giants.

"Longy's come in and you knew what he was going to do. He can organise a team around the field so we'll have to be on our toes.

"They've added some really experienced players but we've got a brilliant pack here and we'll go into it with confidence."

The most exciting prospect for Horne on his swift return is the imminent battle with his brother.

They are close friends, living near each other in neighbouring streets in the east of Hull, but none of that will be apparent tonight when they lock horns for the first time in their careers.

"It was a privilege playing with Rich – I loved it every time we played together – but that chapter is over," he said. "Not much has been said about the game, just the odd little jab at each other but nothing serious.

"We'll leave it be and do all the talking on the night.

"We both play on the right now, though, as Rich has moved across. I'm not going to go looking for him but, if he's there, I'll get him."

Their parents are fervent Hull fans which could cause some issues.

"There'll be a bit of a split," said Horne, "but they aren't picking a team on Friday – they're just cheering for me and Rich."