Crabtree on Friday: Defensive resilience encouraging

Eorl Crabtree gives his thoughts on the second pre-season game of the season against Wakefield Trinity

Tick, tock, tick, tock. The seconds are counting down to the new season and we completed our second pre-season game this week, facing up against a Wakefield Trinity side in a pre-season hit out that's becoming a bit of a tradition for the Giants in recent years. We won 16-4, and we showed that we've made great strides since the end of the 2019 Season. 

In the first half, we demonstrated some great play and our combinations were out in force - firstly a great wing to wing move that saw Joe Wardle hit an excellent line to score, then we released our potent right-wing combination to see Jermaine McGillvary score near the corner flag. Finally, one of our much-heralded youngsters, Jake Wardle, powered over to score to complete an excellent first half. 

What was really impressive, however, wasn't the combinations or the attacking play, but our resolve in defence. During the second half, the Giants were put under enormous pressure on their own line and... well they just wouldn't budge. They kept the duck egg going for 79 minutes, and by the time Wakefield had got the ball back in play after their first score of the game, there was just 12 seconds left on the clock. Brilliant. 

In the training centre, a big emphasis has been on the Giants desire to be the best defensive team in Super League and it showed last night. It was there in Jermaine McGillvary's testimonial game, but to see it against quality opposition was really encouraging. 

Obviously, lets put the caveats on here - you can't read a lot into pre-season games, but lets look at last years game against Wakefield. We lost by two points, and then lost twice by a point to Trin during the season. While you can't read too much into it, it does give you an indication of where a team is going into the season. 

With just eight days to go until we kick off the Super League season, it does seem like progress has been made. Simon Woolford was really happy with the performance and said it was the best defensive performance in his time at the club, and I agree with him - it's a really good sign going into 2020.