Giants' win over Leeds can ignite Huddersfield's season, says Kruise Leeming
Thursday 4 May 2017 20:14, UK
Kruise Leeming spoke to Sky Sports about the Giants' win over Leeds, and Thursday night's Sky Live visit of Betfred Super League leaders Castleford...
Huddersfield's season started off in steady enough fashion. A second-round loss to Salford was sandwiched between victories over Widnes and Wakefield, but the results dried up in March.
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Thrashed by Hull and Leigh in successive weeks, the Giants then rolled into a period of mixed fortunes - draws with Wigan and Saints alongside a hammering at the home of the Tigers.
A shock Challenge Cup loss to Swinton did nothing to squash fears that Huddersfield were in a bit of trouble in 2017, but last week Rick Stone's men pulled together for one of the games of the Super League season; a 31-12 victory over the Rhinos at Leeds.
It was a win attributed to the late Jennifer Davy, wife of chairman Ken Davy, who passed away in the days leading up to the game.
Kruise Leeming, who scored one of five tries that night, said the team were determined to deliver a performance fitting of the contribution made to the club by Mrs Davy and her husband.
"The way we prepared for that game and the way we went into that game with all that passion... we wanted to do a job for Ken," Leeming told Sky Sports.
"What happened to Ken, to his wife Jennifer, was horrific, and that played a massive part in it. Everybody really wanted to put a performance in.
"We all talked about not letting each other down and not letting Ken down. That was the biggest bit, not letting Ken down, and giving him something in a dark week to smile about."
The loss to the Lions a week prior to Headingley threatened to derail the Giants' season as early as April, but Leeming says the atmosphere within the camp has improved after last week's success.
"After the win at Leeds the mood has been much better," said the 21-year-old.
"We're not going into that game feeling like underdogs, we're going there to win."
"In our line of work winning is our job, so if we're not winning then we're not really doing our job. We can't win every week and we know that, but that win at Leeds was massive for the morale of the team and the players.
"People don't realise how big of a win that was for us as a group because of how it could just kick-start something for us. The confidence that we took from that game was huge."
The Giants are currently in 10th spot after 12 rounds, but Leeming says things could have been very different if not for the draws and the early loss to the Red Devils, and he believes his side can now build on last week's victory.
"I think we've dropped a couple of points," said Leeming. "Wigan away, we should have won that game. Saints away, we should have probably won that game.
"Salford at home - these points that we've been dropping early on have hurt us, because if we'd have won those early games we could have gone on a run much earlier, but hopefully it comes now and we go on a six, seven or eight-game winning streak."
The hooker is quick to add that the Giants are not the only team to end up on the wrong end of a close scoreline this season.
"I wouldn't just categorise that as Huddersfield, that's rugby league as a whole. If you're on fire then everything's sticking for you, your plays are coming off, there's high morale, you can string a few games together and you're at the top of the table.
"If you drop a few balls, give a few penalties away and confidence isn't high, then you can be at the bottom of the table. That's our league. If you're a little bit off in this league it can be very, very costly."
Leeming put in a strong individual showing against the Rhinos, with his 40-20 setting up the possession that led to his try, but rather than dwelling on it, he says his focus is firmly on improving for the next game.
"I just did what I had to do for my team-mates. Rick [Stone] and I have talked about building some consistency between my games, for me to put a few back-to-back performances and build from there.
"What I'm trying to do is make sure there's not much difference between my best performance and my worst performance.
"I have learned a lot from Luke Robinson and from Rick, but I've had to learn a little bit on my feet because there's not a No 9 at the club who's an out-and-out No 9.
"Beforehand, Shaun Lunt was there and I was learning off him, and Luke Robinson was still playing, but now there's me and 'OB' [Adam O'Brien] and we are young lads, so we are having to learn at speed."
But the Swaziland-born youngster is not complaining about having to study his trade on the job.
"I'm more of a doer," he says. "In the past, I've been a little bit reluctant to do anything above or beyond because I've been scared of making mistakes.
"But something I've learned as I've grown as a player is that I'd rather try and do something and make a mistake and learn from it, than not try to do anything and not learn anything, and just go through my career not really doing much.
"If it comes off, then brilliant, but if it doesn't come off then I learn from it and see what I could have done better."
It bodes well for the Giants that Leeming has an appetite for improvement; Huddersfield's next assignment is hosting league-leaders Castleford on Thursday night, and the Tigers come into the game after thrashing Wigan 54-4 last Sunday.
Despite the tough task, Leeming says his side believe they can replicate last week's result.
"It's always tough to back up a really good performance when it's effort-based, because with effort it can vary throughout - it's not a like a game plan - but we are going to try our best.
"They've got a few missing, we've got a few missing, and it's anybody's game. We're not going into that game feeling like underdogs, we're going there to win."
Watch Huddersfield Giants v Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League live on Sky Sports 3 HD from 7.30pm on Thursday.
