‘It kills me more than anybody to be losing games’ – Ian Watson admits Huddersfield have buckled under heightened expectations
Photo: Allan McKenzie/SWpix
Huddersfield boss Ian Watson believes his side may have ‘buckled’ under the heightened expectations this season – but remains confident they can come through this ‘sticky phase’ on the other side.
The Giants had an impressive recruitment drive over the off-season, bringing the likes of Jake Connor, Esan Marsters, Kevin Naiqama, Nathan Peats, Harry Rushton and Jake Bibby to the club.
But it hasn’t quite worked out the way some were predicting at the start of the season, with the Giants sitting 10th in the table having won five from 14.
Huddersfield, who reached the Challenge Cup final last season, can turn their season around and have a strong second half to the season, according to Watson.
Speaking after their 30-26 defeat at Warrington on Sunday, Watson said: “Probably at the start of the year people were looking at the squad and saying ‘they are going to win something’ but we’ve got a lot of young and new players that have probably never experienced that level of expectation before; and who hadn’t experienced the season we had the year before which was finishing third and nearly winning the Challenge Cup.
“There’s players that have never experienced that within the group and then all of a sudden they are being told ‘you’re going to compete to win the competition this year, you’re going to win the competition’.
“And probably some of them have buckled under that level of expectation and have probably found it really difficult and are probably learning a lot of harsh lessons which will be good for them as they go forward.
“I’m learning a lot of lessons about myself, about individuals and about coaching itself because when you’re losing its not nice, you don’t like it, no-one likes it”
“And then people start saying ‘it’s not for them, they don’t want to do it’ but it is for you.
“As a group, we are clear that this is for us and it’s what we want to be a part of – we just know we are going through a real sticky phase at this moment in time that we need to learn from and get better from.”
Ian Watson: It kills me more than anybody to be losing games
Watson says it’s important to think about the bigger picture and is confident that his side can turn their fortunes around.
He added: “We’ve had a lot of changes because of injuries and the team have probably been playing how we’ve actually been which is inconsistent and then there’s people trying to find their feet mid-season rather than in pre-season.
“I get what everyone says on the outside and I get it myself. It kills me more than anybody to be losing games and not to be winning but I do know there’s a bigger picture here.
“I’m still confident of where this group will go and where I can get the group to and where we can get to in the next couple of years as a group and a team. Sometimes you don’t get given that time and that’s the key thing – whether you get that time or you don’t get that time.”
The Giants have a week off this week due to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals taking place. Their next match comes against rivals Leeds at Headingley on Friday, June 23.
