Giants building for the future

Today, I attended a press conference at the Galpharm Stadium with a presentation by Damian McGrath.

“You can’t win anything with a bunch of kids,” a famous football pundit once said.

But just like Manchester United have reached the pinnacle in football, Huddersfield Giants are looking to do the same in rugby league.

After finishing last season in a disappointing 10th position, an overhaul of the club’s backroom arrangement took place.

Not only was Australian Nathan Brown brought in as manager, changes were made to the reserve and academy levels, in order to put Huddersfield on the map for years to come.

The dream of becoming one of the top clubs in Super League is something that Damian McGrath wants to make a reality.

McGrath, who was appointed Head of Youth Development last September, is a man with pedigree in rugby, having coached in both codes, working alongside the biggest names.

Driven by the will to be successful, along with his exceptional people skills, he has laid down the foundations for a bright future.

“Before I was here, there was no real structure. We’ve started to build a strong team and want to be second to none. We want to be better than the best,” said a passionate McGrath.

Some may say that this is already being achieved by other teams in the league, and that Huddersfield are behind in their project.

Yet, Player Performance Manager Peter Riding is fully supportive of the direction the club are heading in.

“We want the best talent out there to be at this club. It is important that we invest in the right way and make people feel welcome here,” said Riding.

And this has been the case for youngsters such as Michael Lawrence and Leroy Cudjoe, who both broke into the first team last season.

Riding then went on to make a bold statement in which he said, “We want people to take the name of Huddersfield Giants in the same breath as Leeds Rhinos and St Helens.”

This being particularly surprising, considering that the Giants have had far less success in the Super League era, than the aforementioned clubs, although it does show the ambition and desire of ones involved.

In addition, former England internationals Karl Harrison, Paul Cook and Duncan Fleary are all lending their expertise to the club, who have only 25% of their staff salaried to the club.

These individuals can support and advise senior players and especially academy players, those who need it the most and need to feel valued. The organisation can, in turn, work within a fixed budget.

There is particular attention being paid to youngsters joining, or already at the Galpharm, who are able to speak to the Education Officer, someone who looks after people outside the club.

Relationships with Huddersfield New College helps to give those who may not make it to the top, something to fall back on.

However, the club is also spreading its wings to parts of the community that traditionally, don’t have an interest in the sport.

Asians usually tend to pursue the football or cricket path, but two kids in the academy will, undoubtedly, want to follow in the footsteps of Ikram Butt, the first ever Asian to play for Great Britain.

It remains to be seen whether the new look set-up can influence changes in fortunes on the pitch, and deliver much wanted silverware for the fans.

The academy players will be hoping that the birthplace of rugby league can be the birthplace of a long and distinguished career.

Shamoon Hafez