GIANTS APPOINT WILSON AS HEAD OF PERFORMANCE

Huddersfield Giants are delighted to announce the appointment of Dave Wilson to Head of Performance.

Wilson will head up the strength and conditioning department at the club, looking after the First Team as the return to pre-season at our Laund Hill base and covering everything from fitness to nutrition.

The former Rhino has a mulitude of experience within the game and other sports that he will apply to his systems at the club, as he began his career at Leeds Rhinos in 2016 whilst completing a Masters in Strength and Conditioning at Leeds Beckett University.  He would work there until the end of the 2019 season, winning the 2017 Grand Final and travelling to Melbourne 2018 for the World Club Challenge. 

For the 2020 season, Dave worked for Toronto Wolfpack in the first season in Super League, then in 2021 joining Featherstone as Head of S&C, winning the 1895 Cup at Wembley and losing in the play-off final to Toulouse. 

Then joined Hull City and led their Academy programme before moving to the Giants for the 2023 season. Led the Academy and Scholarship programme for ‘23, ‘24, ‘25 seasons before moving up to the First Team last year.

Dave has worked exteremly hard to move up through the ranks and this appointment is richly deserved, with Gareth Whittaker leaving to join Castleford, a seamless transition has taken place and we sat down with Dave to discuss plans moving forward.

"I’m really looking forward to the challenge. It’s something I’ve been working towards since I joined Huddersfield 4 years ago so I’m really grateful to the club, Jim and Andy Kelly for putting their trust in me to take on this role, leading into a really exciting future for the Giants with the new training facility and stadium nearing completion. 

"I’m sad to see Gaz leave because we struck up a really good friendship inside and outside of work but that’s created an opportunity for me that I’ll grab with both hands and I’ll give everything to prep the boys for success on the field. 

"The transition has been really smooth, which is a credit to everyone really. The boys have been really receptive and I’m looking forward to working with them again this year. It’s also allowed for a smooth transition within our Pathways staff too. Our Academy S&C, Adam Williams, who joined last December when I stepped up to the First Team, will join me in the First Team, and Miles Kelly, our Scholarship S&C will step up into the Academy.

"Both are young, hungry practitioners who are keen to learn and develop, but most importantly are really hard working which encapsulates what we want to be about as a team and club this year underneath Jim.   

"We have the same goals as every other club - we want to be the fittest, fastest, strongest and most robust team we can be. The key part is translating the words into actions. We’ve a clear mantra and identity under Jim about what we want the team to be this year, so my job is to reverse-engineer that and make sure the lads are able to play to the game model and ultimately compete."