Luke Robinson salutes absent Huddersfield Giants chief Ian Watson as he discusses Ricky Leutele future

The isolating Watson cut a lonely figure as he watched the game in an empty stand behind the posts at the John Smith's Stadium but he saw his team produce a typically commanding performance.

Huddersfield ran in four tries in 14 first-half minutes on their way to a 30-16 victory that leaves them in third spot in the Super League table.

Robinson felt the display was a testament to the clear instructions drilled into the group by Watson.

"He's alright, just a little bit under the weather," said the Giants assistant coach.

"He doesn't want to pass it throughout the group. He probably felt alright today and he sounded it on the mic when he was barking instructions.

"It was more of a precaution. He didn't want the players picking up any sort of illness.

"He's been there for the vast majority of the week. He gets a lot of his work in the beginning of the week and I sort of put a cherry on the top at the end of the week. The cake was pretty much made before he got ill.

"One thing that makes Watto an unbelievable coach is everybody knows their role so even when he steps away we all know what he expects and how he wants the team to play.

"Even though he was sat in the stand and giving me messages, I kind of knew what the message would be before it got to me."

Already without regular half-backs Theo Fages and Oliver Russell, the Giants lost Jack Cogger to a hip issue in the first half.

But once again Huddersfield demonstrated the quality and depth in their squad to make light work of the Rhinos.

"We showed a lot of character and resilience because we obviously lost our main half in Jack Cogger which makes things difficult," added Robinson.

"We had a lot of swapping and changing. Jake Wardle had a head knock at one point so we had to shuffle the whole left edge as well.

"We had a little bit of adversity within the game but the boys handled it really well."

Ricky Leutele scored the first of Huddersfield's five tries in a typically powerful performance but the off-contract centre's future remains up in the air.

"Ricky has been fabulous," said Robinson.

"The last three months in particular he's been out of this world. Every time the ball goes in his hands, it feels like something is going to happen and you're on the edge of your seat. Defensively he's always been sound.

"From my perspective, I'd like to keep Rick - of course I would. There are obviously a lot of different parts in a salary cap sport.

"He's a great bloke to have around the place and a fabulous player."