Huddersfield v York: Four takeaways as Giants change perceptions and Knights performance raises concerns

Huddersfield Giants’ season has taken off after securing back-to-back victories following their 34-14 win over York Knights.

The Giants eased to victory over the Knights to take them off the bottom of Super League, with the Giants now eleventh in the competition.

Here are the talking points from the Accu Stadium.

Huddersfield aren’t no hopers after all

Let’s be honest. We’d all written off Huddersfield a few weeks ago. It was hard not to with what they were dishing up.

Yet as of writing, the Giants are now two points off the play-offs! After a woeful start, the Giants have gone back-to-back and been thoroughly deserving of their two win. They were better than York in every department here and the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game.

With the ball, Huddersfield were slick, polished and clinical. After scoring ten tries in their first five games, they’ve scored twelve in their last two. That’s the big difference.

Clearly, nobody will be getting ready to put Huddersfield down as play-off hopefuls after a few wins. But their season is up and running and after appearing to be no hopers, they now have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about what they can achieve this season.

Clune holds the key

Clearly, the fact Huddersfield have their spine on the field makes a big difference. Adam Clune was excellent here and there aren’t many players in Super League who have such an influential impact on their team as the Australian halfback.

His kicking game improves the Giants but he also unlocks others. Niall Evalds was given the time and space to be at his best here. His pass deception provided the back-rower, Chris Patolo, and centre Jacob Gagai, plenty of opportunities to run riot. Clune is making Huddersfield’s strike players dangerous.

Clune’s quality has never been questioned; it’s just getting him on the field. Last year he made only six appearances due to injury, and he started this year on the sidelines too.

But since his arrival in 2024, Huddersfield are undeniably a better team. It’s no coincidence that his return to the team has seen the Giants win two straight games.

His fitness could well hold the key to the Giants’ fortunes.

York doing in tough

It was a day to forget for York, who after a memorable start to the year, have now lost their last four Super League games.

This was, though, the first disappointing performance in that sequence of runs. They ran Warrington close, Wigan even closer and were more than a match for Wakefield last week. But here, they were comfortably second best.

The reality is that they are without too many players. Their absentee list Toa Mata’afa, Ben Jones Bishop, Sam Wood, Liam Harris, Jordan Thompson and Danny Richardson. They are so depleted, they couldn’t even name an 18th man.

And where other clubs are doing it tough too, York don’t have the quality of depth other sides do, that is apparent right now.

That, coupled with the fact there are plenty of players in this squad that haven’t played regular top flight rugby, probably goes a fair way to explaining this performance.

Huddersfield’s smart business

On the quiet, Huddersfield’s new additions are going well. There were no flashy signings in the off-season, but those that have come in are starting to make their mark.

Chris Patolo is emerging as a good player, with the forward applying plenty of dynamism. Back-rower Asher O’Donnell was named man of the match and is a real handful when he carries the ball. Mathieu Cozza is particularly underrated but plays a very important role that isn’t lost on his team-mates. Tanguy Zenon has impressed since his arrival and Connor Wrench is a talented young player who has started demonstrating it.

It shouldn’t go unnoticed.