‘No panic’: Huddersfield Giants boss Ian Watson dismisses crisis talk

The Giants conceded nine tries at St James' Park on their way to a 48-6 loss that leaves Watson's men 10th in Super League at the halfway mark of the campaign.

Huddersfield were fancied to challenge for honours after a promising second season under Watson but there will be no repeat of last year's Challenge Cup final appearance and they are even in danger of dropping out of the play-off race.

Watson insists the mood is upbeat despite just one win in six games.

"It's funny because when you're winning people don't recall your record but when you're losing everyone wants to bring your record up and throw stones at you," he said ahead of Saturday's trip to Warrington Wolves.

"We were great against Castleford the week before and great for 30 minutes against St Helens but terrible for the rest of that game.

"We know we didn't do well last week. We felt we'd been going back in the right direction over the last few weeks but the weekend set us back.

"There weren't masses in it in that first half and we just needed to do things a little bit better, so there isn't a panic at all. I've said before that this is a good group.

"There are lots of factors you can look at and start talking about but it's pointless going back through them.

"The fact is we need to move on and attack this week really confidently and do what we did against Castleford a couple of weeks ago."

The defeat in Newcastle leaves the Giants six points adrift of the play-off positions with 13 rounds remaining.

Watson has been pleased with the reaction to Huddersfield's heaviest loss of the season and believes they will be stronger for the experience.

"We are a group that is willing to be honest with each other and talk pretty bluntly," he added. "The players will express their opinion as well which is good. You want that feedback.

"Everyone is always learning. I've learnt a hell of a lot more this year in some of the things I could have done better and some things we could have planned better more so than I have in a few years.

"When you come up against a little bit of adversity and things are not going your way, they're the biggest learning opportunities you can get.

"I'm embracing it at the moment. It's tough and not where I wanted to see us in year three because we wanted to kick on again.

"Everyone is happy and you enjoy everything when you're winning but when you're losing it's a test of your character and you see what you're like as a person and who you can rely on and trust."