Murphy "Pleased" with GiantsTV accolade

Aaron Murphy shared his delight to pick up the two points in a game largely dominated by the conditions, after being named GiantsTV Man of the Match

By Sean Evans

After another impressive showing for the Giants, Aaron Murphy hailed the importance of taking 2 points back to the John Smith’s after a tough encounter with Hull Kingston Rovers.

“It’s a tough place to come, and in those conditions, i’m not sure if you would even be able to tell from the stands how tough it was, it made the game really hard, and we are just really pleased to get the win.”

Murphy and Huddersfield went into this tie on the back of two wins from two games, after toppling last year’s Grand Finalists Salford Red Devils, and continued their fine form in what could prove to be the most difficult conditions of the season for any side.

🎶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝔂𝓶𝓹𝓱𝓸𝓷𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓮𝓼 🎶

Giants vs @WiganWarriorsRL. 1st vs 2nd.

01.03.2020

Tickets available now🎟️ https://t.co/3TeUztHwds pic.twitter.com/9kE2HgUxGe
— Huddersfield Giants (@Giantsrl) February 25, 2020

The wind was clearly playing havoc for both sides, and ‘basic’ skills were tested to their maximum. “You couldn’t really throw the ball about, it was a case of 5 drives, a bit of play and then a kick, and then just a battle for where you could keep the ball, and look for turnovers.”

Huddersfield fans will have been worried about injuries to both Darnell McIntosh and James Gavet, but for the 15 lads left in the squad, there was no time to think as a tough task was well underway. “It’s hard enough with 17 here, but going down to 15, it was hard work, and we probably didn’t play our best but we can definitely take a lot from the performance.”

See the unbeaten Huddersfield Giants face off against Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Super League this Sunday. ⬇️ https://t.co/EFKljbdLR6
— Huddersfield Giants (@Giantsrl) February 26, 2020

The 31-year-old back rower, is one of very few remaining squad players from the club’s famous League Leaders Shield winning team of 2013, and Murphy has been known since as Mr. Versatile - turning from a try-scoring winger to a hard hitting second-rower in the 7 years since. His ability to play in many positions became crucial after McIntosh limped off early in the contest. “I had to move quite early on [after the injury to Darnell], but I guess i’m getting used to the bounce about. I move about in training, so we are ready for those situations.”

Enjoyed our three wins from three?

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— Huddersfield Giants (@Giantsrl) February 25, 2020

Murphy was named GiantsTV man of the match by this week’s co-commentator Conor Murphy, and much of that came down to his personal battle with Hull KR centre Kane Linnett. Linnett, the recipient of well over 150 NRL appearances and a key player in the North Queensland Cowboys 2015 NRL title, looked to take advantage of the centre switch, but Murphy’s dominance went a long way to affecting the end result.

“I wouldn’t say I came out on top, but I was happy to keep such a great player to as little as possible down that side. 

“Man of the match, i’m not sure if I deserved that but i’ll take it”.