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LATEST NEWS
14 August: GIANTS DEFEAT VALIANT ADMIRALS THEN TAKE COACHING SESSION FOR LOCAL AMATEURS
Hull Giants squeaked home against the Amsterdam Admirals last night by 8 points to 4. Following a magnificent after match ceremony hosted by the Admirals, many of the Hull players might have struggled to get out of their hotel beds this morning to attend a coaching clinic hastily arranged by the Giants management!
However assistant coach Matt Danby confirmed that all players and staff has arrived on time to attend their session with the Black Tulips - one of Holland's foremost amateur clubs.
"The Hull Giants were last night treated to a sumptuous after match dinner and reception by the Admirals where each player received a club pendant, tie and photos of the match itself. The Admirals generosity was immense and I would like to thank them for the trouble they had gone to at such short notice. We have also been on a tour of the facilities and found them to be second to none. The Admirals are a Premiership club in all but name."
Rob Gwatkin was very pleased with the match itself.
"I was delighted with the victory, however meaningless the match might have seemed to some people. We obviously fielded many reserve grade players, and I was thoroughly impressed with the youngsters on show. That also applies to the Admirals side as well. Danny Tickle will be one to watch in seasons to come."
"Maybe we can persuade him to further his career at Hull" joked Gwatkin.
"Seriously though, the Admirals just need a touch more luck out on the park and I'm sure that they will then start firing on all cylinders. Rob Clarke has an excellent set up here and I'm sure that his hard work will soon be rewarded with good results."
"The lads will be off to train with the Black Tulips tomorrow and hopefully this will help develop rugby league in a traditional football strong-hold. I've heard good things about the Tulips and hope to be able to offer them any assistance they might need."
"Following that, we'll be off to an autograph signing session and then a tour of the Grolsch brewery. Maybe the lads might even have a bottle or two ... but only when it's ready."
13 August: GIANTS OVERPOWER TOUGH SALFORD SIDE
The Giants had said all week long that they would be prepared to let their rugby do their talking for them, and they did with a comfortable, if not comprehensive, victory at the Eastlands Stadium this weekend.
Salford had earlier appeared to be more interested in a war of words with the Hull side, but when it came to the crunch their much vaunted pack were left floundering by some awesome defensive work from the Hull forwards.
The Blues were fired up for this encounter; their aggressive defence forcing Hull into plenty of handling errors. However their strong arm tactics also lead to them coughing up twice as many penalties as the Giants throughout the match, and this eventually told as Hull took control of the football and applied concerted pressure to the Blues.
Hull had a disastrous start to the match, when they lost the influential Jim Dymock with less than 2 minutes on the clock.
Hull have now played less than 2 minutes of their league campaign with their first choice 17, and it looks as though they will have to play another month without the Aussie playmaker, as he struggles to recover from a separated shoulder.
This crucial blow appeared to have knocked Hull from their stride in the first half as they struggled to find any rhythm going forward, with breaks being few and far between.
Salford deservedly took the lead after 20 minutes when Mike Wainwright crossed following some strong bursts by the Blues front row. Blakeley converted to cancel out Paul's earlier penalty, and the Blues lead 6-2.
Two minutes before half time Henry Paul knocked over another penalty awarded to the Giants following a head-high tackle on Steele Retchless.
From the restart, the Blues paid again for failing to heed the referee's warning as again Salford were penalised for a high tackle. This time Paul had no chance of two points and opted to kick for touch. With less than a minute on the clock, Steve Prescott linked superbly and streaked home in the corner. The try was too far out for Paul to add on the extras, but Hull had a two point lead at 6-8.
Hull's coaching staff must have given it to the Giants at half time, because they came out in the second half determined to stop anything in a Salford shirt from running.
Time and again Hull's pack rocked their counterparts with controlled aggression in defence. Salford never had a sniff second half as even the highly effective Willie Poching was restricted to two lone raids into the Giants' territory.
Hull finally put the game beyond Salford in the 70th minute. Henry Paul combined sweetly with Alfie Langer to create a huge gap for Maloney to romp home under the posts. Paul banged over the easy conversion and Hull were home and hosed at 6 -14.
After the match, Salford coach Andy Gregory admitted that his side had been taught a lesson in how to defend, and Hull coach Rob Gwatkin paid tribute to his forwards, saying:
"I marvelled at times at just how much work the pack got through. I tried to bring off Julian O'Neill twice, but he was having none of it. That is exactly the type of commitment that a coach wants to see from his players in games like this."
Matt Danby paid tribute to both sets of forwards, "I think that Salford fans will be a bit disappointed with their team, but I think that we just controlled them better than they did with us. We had 6 tackling machines out there in the forwards, and it's very difficult to build up a head of steam if you're being knocked back in the tackle. All the credit in the world must go to our lads."
Suprisingly it was a back that was named as the MOM, as Steve Prescott walked away with the honours. Preccie admitted that he was surprised:
"I'm delighted to have been recognised, but this award will be given to the pack later. They were magnificent today and must be applauded for their efforts."
For more stories, including full match reports on Hull Giants please visit the Website.
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