St Helens v Huddersfield Giants - Leroy Cudjoe desperate for Giants to shed '˜nearly men' tag

More than four months after head coach Paul Anderson said his side “froze again” to lose 32-8 at Wigan Warriors and miss out once more on a maiden Grand Final, England centre Cudjoe maintains his side are doing everything possible to throw off their ‘nearly-man’ tag.

Huddersfield, who kick-off their 2016 campaign at St Helens tonight, are regular top-four finishers but consistently fail when it matters most, having lost a dozen of 15 play-off games since 2007.

“Deep down, I think it does still play on all our minds,” Cudjoe conceded to The Yorkshire Post, with reference to that debacle of a performance against Wigan.

“We didn’t perform when it mattered again. We need to learn how to stay patient, complete our sets while still challenging the opposition and be ruthless when given the opportunity.

“These are some things we’ve been working on in pre-season as well as other aspects and I’m sure individually the boys have used it (Wigan) as motivation this pre-season.

“We’re a team that wants to win something so we do need to use those experiences as motivation.

“We’re starting at Saints which is always tough and Friday’s game will be no different. But we’ve trained well and are confident of going there, playing well and getting a win.”

The 27-year-old has more reason than most to be eager to get out onto the field once more.

He was a member of England’s 23-man squad against New Zealand and France last autumn but did not feature in the three-Test series win over the Kiwis or the one-off game with the French.

“I am very excited to get playing again,” said the Huddersfield-born player.

“Not being picked for a match against the Kiwis was frustrating and has given me motivation to kick on and make sure next time I’m in that team.”

That next team, of course, will now be picked by Wayne Bennett, the legendary Australian coach who this week was announced as the new England chief, replacing Steve McNamara, who had been in the role since 2010 and who had given Huddersfield’s Cudjoe his international debut that same year.

There has been some consternation that another Englishman, such as Leeds Rhinos’ Brian McDermott or Wigan Warriors’ Shaun Wane, has not taken over from McNamara, the former Bradford Bulls coach who saw the Rugby Football League opt against renewing his contract.

But Cudjoe said: “Wayne Bennett’s CV speaks for itself; he’s a great coach with a great record and I think it’s an exciting time for England.

“I think his job has been made easier with the structure and organisation Steve Mac has put in place.

“Steve changed the whole programme for the better and with the success in last season’s Test series with a young squad, too, the foundations are there for Wayne to come in and take us to that next level.”

Meanwhile, on a personal level, Cudjoe says he has vowed to “back himself more” in 2016 – which should make life even more difficult for Super League defences trying to halt his stellar partnership with prolific Giants winger Jermaine McGillvary.