Brown-ed off

Brown: coaches looking to try and influence referees.

Sometimes coaches are looking to try and get an edge in some way and influence the referee, but as long as they know we're not doing anything illegal it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks.

Nathan Brown
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• Huddersfield Giants

Aussie states Giants aren't "doing anything illegal".

Huddersfield Giants coach Nathan Brown has hit back at claims over side's tactics, refuting suggestions he has taught his players illegal tackles.

Following their 22-8 weekend win at Wigan - their eighth successive away win - Warriors boss Brian Noble said the Giants' approach was "something that needed to be looked at".

One of the tackles Huddersfield have been accused of is the chicken-wing, a wrestling technique aimed at slowing down the play but one which could quite easily lead to a player dislocating his shoulder.

However, speaking to Boots 'n' All, Brown is adamant his side don't use such wrestling-type drills and thinks the criticism is more down to sour grapes due to the Giants' lofty league position.

"We don't teach the grapple or the chicken-wing," stated the Australian. "That's something I don't think is in the spirits of the game. I can assure you that Wigan do wrestling, as do Bradford; every side tries to win the ruck. I don't know, maybe we're just a little bit better at it than they are, but that's for them to judge.

"It's quite easy for them (Wigan) to blame us for lying at the ruck as the reason for them not winning the game. We weren't penalised for it. We got penalties against us for being caught not square and offside, and they were all fair. We definitely don't have a problem at the ruck and as long as the referees are aware of that we'll be happy."

This hasn't been the first time this season Huddersfield have come under the spotlight for suspect tackling. Their win at Castleford last month prompted claims they were using the grapple tackle, although following the match review the Rugby Football League said there was no problem.

"The way the ruck is policed now you'd be mad to try that," said Brown, "because at the end of the day you're going to lose players for games, and nobody has got the depth to deal with four or five players being on the sidelines through suspension. I'd be surprised if anyone is teaching it, but we're definitely not.

"Sometimes coaches are looking to try and get an edge in some way and influence the referee, but as long as they know we're not doing anything illegal it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. We just want to win our share of games; if we can do that I'll be happy."

With five wins from their opening seven games confidence is high around the club. Huddersfield currently sit in third place in the Super League table, two points behind Leeds and St Helens, and Brown is more than pleased with their start.

"Everyone's quite pleased where we're sitting at the moment," said the 35-year-old. "We've had a few convincing wins but we've also won our share of close games. We're one win behind Leeds so we're pretty happy with ourselves at the moment."