Assistant Coach Andy Last has previewed the Black & Whites Round 20 clash against Huddersfield.
The Black & Whites take on Luke Robinson’s side aiming to claim their third consecutive victory after wins over Wakefield and Wigan in recent weeks.
Such was the strength of the Black & Whites performance last time out against the Warriors, Last explained the challenge for the side is to back up that performance.
“That’s the challenge. It’s a dangerous game, this one. For whatever reason, we like to be the underdog, one where we are backed into a corner; it seems to bring the best out of us.
“The form of Huddersfield going into this game and the fact that we have beaten Wakefield and then Wigan away puts us as favourites, so we’ve got to deal with that tag and make sure that we perform accordingly.
“Huddersfield are a dangerous side, though—their position on the ladder doesn’t reflect the quality that they have got in their side.”
He added: “We’ve prepared really well this week, but we’ll need to be at our best. I think that’s the beauty of Super League at the minute; you have to perform at your best to get a win whether you’re playing the team at the top of the ladder or the team at the bottom of the ladder. It’s a dangerous game, and it’s one that we need to make sure we are at our best for.”
On going into the game as the favorites, he continued: “We’ve not handled that tag very well this season. I think that’s evident: Castleford at home, Huddersfield at Magic—those are two games that stand out for me where we were certainly favourites going into those games. We didn’t play well for whatever reason, so the challenge for us is to make sure that we perform to the best of our capability, and if we do that, we give ourselves a chance of winning the game.
“The second-half performance against Wakefield was very good, and that was at home—we managed to get that monkey off our back and win in front of our home fans. We need to make sure that we get off to a really good, strong, and competent start with the required intensity. We need to be patient and build our game and go for 80 minutes. That’s what Huddersfield will ask us to do—it’s a difficult game to prepare for, but we’ve done a good job so far this week.
He added: “I think every game now is important. We need to make sure that we keep knocking off each game and view them as Grand Final games. It’s the old cliché, but it’s one week at a time.
“We had a great week’s preparation leading into Wigan, and we had a strong performance, and we’ve had a great week of preparation leading into Huddersfield. We need to make sure that we perform well.”
Andy Last is proudly sponsored by Seafish UK.
STORY SPONSOR
