Huddersfield Giants suffer double injury blow on eve of Super League season

Huddersfield Giants have been dealt a double injury blow, with two key players ruled out for the opening rounds of the season.

In a disappointing setback on the eve of the new Super League season, the Giants have lost Adam Clune and Niall Evalds to calf injuries which will see both of them miss several weeks of action as the new season begins.

No specific timeline has been set out for their returns yet but both are due to miss in the region of four to six games after setbacks suffered in training. Neither featured in the Challenge Cup victory over Hunslet and it has now been confirmed that it was a result of injuries.

It is rotten luck for Huddersfield. Last year, they started the season without a catalogue of their senior players, ruining their season in the process. This year, things appeared to be different after a significantly strong pre-season. Head coach Luke Robinson said only three weeks ago that the squad was in a healthy position on the injury front.

Despite the blow being a brutal one for the Giants, they do have plenty of depth to cover their absences, something they lacked last year. The good news for the Giants is that George Flanagan is fit and ready to go despite going off in that win over Hunslet, with the youngster now set to be given an opportunity to impress at the start of the year after being tipped to battle it out with Evalds for the fullback spot this year.

And the return of Oliver Russell to the club provides them a replacement for Clune while he remains absent, leaving Huddersfield in a stronger position to handle the injuries as they prepare to take on Catalans Dragons this Friday.