Leeds Rhinos v Huddersfield Giants: England Knights call-ups for Giants duo show squad's potential - Ian Watson

That is the belief of head coach Ian Watson, who feels the duo’s addition to Paul Anderson’s squad is just reward for their form over the last 12 to 18 months.

The Knights will face France B in Bordeaux on October 1 and then head to Edinburgh to play Scotland the following Saturday.

Trout and Wilson have been regulars in the Huddersfield pack which has helped the Giants qualify for the Super League play-offs.

Both players featured in the agonising Challenge Cup defeat to Wigan Warriors in May, as the West Yorkshire side were minutes away from winning a thrilling contest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“I’d have liked a couple more of ours in there,” admitted Watson ahead of Huddersfield’s trip to Headingley this evening.

“It just shows how young our team is and what our team could look like in the future. I am absolutely made up for Trouty, he has worked really, really hard this year.

“He developed last year where he started to more or less become the starting front rower.

“This year, he has exchanged that now and again with Oliver Wilson. It is an outstanding achievement for him.

“It has got to be the start for him. I think he can be anything if he really knuckles down and backs himself – I think he could be a top player, not only at Super League level but at international level as well.

“It is pleasing to see Trouty and Oliver Wilson in there.”

The only negative point for Watson was Oliver Russell’s exclusion.

“I think he has been phenomenal this year in what he has done. The disappointment is Olly Russell not being selected,” added Watson, with Wakefield Trinity winger Lewis Murphy and Cameron Smith of Leeds also added to the Knights ranks yesterday.

“We have spoke about this together and I have told him he just needs to keep his head down, keep working hard and hopefully that tide changes and people see what an influence is on the Huddersfield team.

“If there is anyone who deserves it, the way he has played over the last 18 months he should be in that squad.”

Huddersfield sealed their place in the Super League play-offs with victory over Castleford Tigers last week.

Sitting in third, with a three-point cushion to fourth-placed Catalans Dragons and three points adrift of Wigan Warriors in second, Watson is determined to finish as high up the table as possible with three games remaining.

Huddersfield drew 20-20 at Leeds in April before winning 30-16 when the sides met at the John Smith’s Stadium at the beginning of June.

Watson added of Leeds: “They have got a really strong squad out. It is going to be a really interesting battle. We have got to focus on what we want to achieve and how we want to go about playing this game.”

It is a busy end to the season for the sides vying for a play-off spot but Rohan Smith says Leeds will throw everything at the Giants and worry later about what comes next.

Rhinos are backing up from a 24-18 win over Warrington Wolves last Friday which lifted them to fifth. They visit Catalans Dragons on Monday and play their fourth game in 16 days against Castleford Tigers at Headingley the following Saturday.

The hectic schedule completes the regular season and Rhinos – on a five-game hot streak – need to keep winning to remain in the all-important top-six.

Assessing how Leeds will approach the next three matches, Smith said: “It has been a short turnaround from our last game into this one.

“We aren’t really treating this one too much differently to a regular five-day turnaround.

“We’ve pulled up pretty well and got a few bodies back so we are in a decent position for this game.

“All our chips are going into winning and doing our best in this game, against one of the form teams in the competition all year.

“It’s going to be a tough battle, but something we need to stand up and take on.

“We’ll get some recovery done for a couple of days and make decisions over the weekend about whether we bring some other fresh bodies in or whether we’ve recovered quite well. It’s another five-day turnaround so it’s not too crazy going into Monday, but we are all in for this one game first.”

Smith coached Giants hooker Danny Levi at his previous club Norths Devils last year and has also worked with Huddersfield’s Tui Lolohea and Chris McQueen.

“Huddersfield are a strong, high-performing team,” the Rhinos boss warned.

“They know who they are as a group, they try to apply pressure to the opposition and our task is to try to apply some back to them and have a good arm wrestle.

“We’ll have a good battle and see how it goes.”