English believes in Academy impact

Matty English discusses his injury, the new norms and rules and the performance in the first two weeks of the Restart

Matty English is finally feeling back to normal after a head injury that saw him stretchered off in the 18-19 loss to Warrington. The young forward confirmed while the injury took a few days to fully recover, he's fit and available for the game against Hull this Sunday. 

"I am finally back to feeling okay. it’s taken a few days to shake off that headache but yeah finally back in full training with the boys."

With talk from across the world centring around the 'new normal', Rugby League has been no exception and English admits while the new rules were difficult to get used to, everyone is becoming comfortable with the guidelines and restrictions. 

"The restart has been a bit of a strange one for everyone. The new rules and guidelines have taken some getting use to - the Monday morning Covid-19 tests are definitely one way to wake us all up - but we are all getting there now and adapting to the new norms."

Another new normal for Rugby League players concerns the new rules, with the six-again rule and lack of scrums making the remit for a forward like English significantly different from the start of the season. 

"The new rules have definitely changed things up a little bit" said English. 

"It’s so much faster in the middle and is really testing the defences. Energy Efficiency in the middle is something we are all trying to improve!"

The restart has been cruel to the Giants - with twin one-point losses in their opening games. English says despite the two narrow defeats the mood in the camp is consistently good, and there is much to be proud of the first two weeks of the restart.

"The mood is always good in the camp- yes the close defeats are frustrating but we need to learn how to see out close games and get the 2 points.

"We are proving we can complete and compete with whoever is in the team. It’s great to see so many of the younger boys getting there chances and taking them. 

"I thought Sam Hewitt was outstanding against Warrington and it's always good to see my boy Olly Russ getting on the scoresheet and that just shows that we can keep produce our own quality players through our academy systems."