Huddersfield Giants v Leeds Rhinos: All you need to know
Competition: Betfred Super League round two
Opponents: Huddersfield Giants
At: John Smith’s Stadium
On: Sunday, February 9
Kick-off: 3pm
Coverage: No live TV coverage
Tickets: Match day prices for the away section are £25 adults, £20 pensions, £10 juniors (16 and under).
Car parking: £5 per car in St Andrews car park.
Weather: Rain, 11 degrees at kick-off.
Opposition coach: Aussie Simon Woolford, 44, took charge of Giants in April, 2018. He played as a hooker for Canberra Raiders and St George-Illawarra Dragons in the NRL and coached Queanbeyan Blues and Newcastle Knights’ ; New South Wales Cup team before joining Huddersfield.
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Hide AdOpposition star man: Half-back Aidan Sezer could be the catalyst for a Huddersfield resurgence this season. The 28-year-old played for Canberra Raiders in last year’s NRL Grand Final and had an outstanding Super League debut last week, scoring a try and six goals in Giants’ round one win at Catalans Dragons.
Key battle: Sezer was on Rhinos’ radar before they signed former Man of Steel Luke Gale from Castleford Tigers. Both number sevens are richly talented and the one who has the better game will almost certainly be on the winning team.
Opposition form: Giants finished 10th last year and were crushed 44-0 at home by Rhinos six months ago, but they had a positive pre-season and fired out a warning with an impressive 32-12 win at Catalans Dragons in round one.
Previous meeting: August 2, 2019. Betfred Super League round 24. Huddersfield Giants 0, Leeds Rhinos 44 (Tries Hurrell 2, Handley 2, Cuthbertson, T Briscoe, Dwyer, L Sutcliffe. Goals Martin 6). Referee: Robert Hicks. Attendance: 6,809.
Last five results: Rhinos LWLWL. Huddersfield LWLWW
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Hide AdTeam news: Rhinos captain Stevie Ward is ruled out due to concussion, but prop Ava Seumanufagai will return from a knee injury. For Giants, Jordan Turner comes into the squad to replace Jake Wardle (eye injury). Giants’ former Rhinos full-back Ashton Golding is unavailable due to a hamstring problem.