Crabtree on Friday: Derby day is coming!

Eorl Crabtree gives his thoughts ahead of the big derby this Sunday at the John Smith's Stadium

Well, one game, one win. As good a start as we could have hoped for, the Giants emerged from the South of France with a much more comfortable a victory than I anticipated. We stole the show, recorded a 32-12 win and took home the two points in an excellent encapsulation of all the work that the coaching staff have emphasised in the off-season. 

After the match, what has been interesting to me has been the messages coming out of the camp about our bond and our togetherness. It's perhaps natural for the younger members of the squad to be composed and a unit, but for the new signings too - Owen Trout and I worked on the GiantsTV Pre-Match Show, and he was very clear about his feeling that the new signings have gelled, and it showed on the field on Saturday, Aidan Sezer patrolled the field and led like a general and Kenny Edwards showed all the personality he has in abundance and they both felt like real key men in the team. 

Now, we look forward to the Rhinos and this is a real test of how far we've come. The club hurt after the 44-0 loss last season, and having been to pre-season events where Mr Sezer was made aware of what that score-line meant to the fans, I know he and the new signings know that they'll need to rectify it. This is the test of our mental strength and the strides we've made as an organisation in the last few months - to put it simply, beating Leeds is very, very important. 

This is the old enemy, our big city rival and a team we've jostled with competitively for a number of years. For the people of Huddersfield, this game is probably the first they look out for. We need you, however, to come down and support us on what promises to be a mouth-watering derby. Tickets are still available, Aidan Sezer, Kenny Edwards and James Gavet looks set to make their home debut and will want to see as many people supporting them from the Huddersfield masses. I hope to see you there.