Rick Stone says it will take time to restore Huddersfield at the top

Huddersfield coach Rick Stone has warned it could take two years to turn around the fortunes of the Super League club.

The Giants, who topped Super League in 2013, finished bottom of the table at the end of the regular season in 2016 and only saved themselves from relegation by winning five of their seven matches in the Super 8s Qualifiers.

Stone, who succeeded Paul Anderson last July, has had a full off season to work with his squad and is confident he can help eventually restore Huddersfield as a top-four team.

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"It was a good learning curve for myself," Stone said. "We've spoken about that a little bit but I think we're probably happy to put last year behind us.

"The off season has been invaluable but it's going to take a little bit of time. It's not going to happen over a six-month period, it's going to take a couple of years.

"I'm confident we'll be better than we were last year and we'll continue to improve as we go along this year."

Huddersfield - who open their campaign at Widnes on February 10 - are still awaiting the arrival of their two overseas signings, full-back Jake Mamo and prop Shannon Wakeman, who have been working their way through paperwork.

Mamo, 22, is set to miss the opening rounds as he continues to recover from undergoing ankle surgery after being involved in a car accident during a holiday in Bali, but Stone expects both players to make an impact in the Super League.

"Those two boys should arrive inside the next seven days," the coach added. "I'm not quite sure where Jake is going to be at after his little operation but Shannon is going to be pretty much ready to play straight away.

Meanwhile, Stone insisted he has yet to decide on his captain for 2017 with Australian Ryan Hinchcliffe set to relinquish the role for his second season with the club.

"We're working towards picking our captain for 2017," he added. "It's just taking a bit longer. I've waited until January, until everyone has had a bit of time to train with each other.

"We've got a good group of four to six real hard-core senior players who are going to drive our culture over the next couple of years and Ryan is still definitely in that."