“Special talent” Will Pryce hailed after inspiring Huddersfield comeback against Wakefield
Huddersfield Giants' Will Pryce gets away from Wakefield Trinity's Matty Ashurst during the Betfred Super League match at the John Smiths Stadium, Huddersfield
Huddersfield coach Ian Watson sang the praises of teenage stand-off Will Pryce after he helped his side overcome a calamitous start to beat Wakefield 22-18 in an extraordinary contest at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The Giants were trailing 18-4 at the time but Pryce was at the heart of a magnificent fightback, with England winger Jermaine McGillvary scoring two of his side’s five tries as they ran in 22 points without reply to make it three wins in a row.
Watson said: “He’s a special talent. We’ve just got to make sure we look after him.
“There are things he can improve on but the composure he showed at times demonstrated his maturity. Being the only half out there, everyone was looking at him but he didn’t let the pressure get to him.
“Will more or less did the team talk at half-time and that shows how confident the young lads are.
“The leadership stood up to ensure the youngsters didn’t panic. We have a good mix of youth and experience at this moment in time.”
Huddersfield could hardly have made a worse start, with Russell sin-binned for a professional foul a minute into the game, and Trinity took full advantage of the extra man to run in two tries through Reece Lyne and Ryan Hampshire.
It was 18-0 when Joe Westerman scored a third try but the Giants pulled one back before the break through substitute Sam Wood and went on to dominate the second half.
Watson added: “It was a horror start in every aspect. Losing Oliver Russell meant we faced a lot of adversity but one thing this group has showed is that they are prepared to fight for each other.
“I just knew that, once we scored, if we continued to play as we trained, we would score some points. We stuck to the process to come away with the win.
“It was a team good team performance, probably the best in my time here. It’s massive credit to the boys. I think it’s a long time since Huddersfield won a game like that.”