The Big Interview: Brandon Costin

We caught up with the former Giant and current Fiji Bati Head Coach, Brandon Costin

In the Giants Super League history, there are arguably three eras. First, the early era from 1998-2000, where Huddersfield built up a cricket score in the win and loss column, limped from season to season, almost begging to reset from the comfort of the Northern Ford Premiership. 

Then, the era stewarded by Tony Smith, starting in the 2001 Season. Then, the rest - Challenge Cup finals, Playoff berths and the feeling that Huddersfield Giants were an established part of the Super League Family. 

While the Giants regularly had classy operators - Bobbie Goulding's cameo for the Giants came when he was still considered one of the best in the world - the mercurial, languid playmaker Brandon Costin arrived at the club at the start of the 2001, but nearly didn't make it at all. He is Head Coach of Fiji Bati now, but Costin still remembers the choice that led to him arriving in Huddersfield. 

"I had just finished up with Canberra Raiders and was considering retiring. I was 28 at the time. I had an offer from Wakefield and Halifax at the end of the 2000 season. These talks were ongoing until Dec 2000" said Costin.

'The sky’s the limit' 🌠

🇫🇯 Fiji coach Brandon Costin aims to follow Tonga and shake up league’s world order

➡️ https://t.co/QROXYurFYW pic.twitter.com/uP0fpCrMOM

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) November 4, 2019

"I loved watching the old Challenge Cup games with Aussies playing. Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny etc. I knew it would be a great experience to play in England and did dream of playing in big games like Challenge Cup finals."

"I knew they fought off relegation the year before by merging with Sheffield. I knew Tony Smith and had lived with Steve McNamara previously. Graham Api and David Atkins were there and I had played with them at Canberra previously."  

Thankfully for Huddersfield, Costin didn't retire, didn't sign for either the Wildcats, or the Blue Sox, and found himself in the right place - Huddersfield - at the right time - the 2001 Season. He arrived in typical Yorkshire December weather - blizzard. 

"When I arrived it was a big snow blitz. The M62 was bumper to bumper and the house we had rented was snowed in. We had two young girls aged 6 months and 2 years old and I remember how hard it was to get groceries while all snowed in. I am glad not every day was like that."

The 2001 Season was mixed. Yes, the club was relegated after four seasons in the Super League, but the club won a record number of games and would have stayed for the 2002 Season had it not have been for the "will-they? won't they?" drama of Wakefield Trinity's salary cap breach, which saw points taken away and returned a few times over the course of the season, finally putting the Giants a point adrift at the bottom of the table by the end of the year.

They also saw the arrival of Tony Smith, who would go onto win the Northern Ford Premiership in 2002, albeit without Costin. The project was still ongoing, Costin insists, and the club's record was evidence of a nucleus of a team emerging to be competitive in Super League in the future. 

"It was really good. We lost our first 15 games but we were competitive for 50-60 mins of every game. We just had to learn how to win. It really was the most enjoyable year of my RL career. We got relegated and I had to move to Bradford but the morale and comradely was amazing that year."

Smith arrived, and it was obvious that he was the man for the job, according to Costin. 

"Tony was a great coach. He was a few years ahead of his time and he was a great fit for Huddersfield. It was never in doubt he would progress to become a great coach"

Costin left the club after relegation and found himself at the Champions - Bradford Bulls. He had an amazing year, reaching the Grand Final and playing in the 41-26 win over Newcastle that saw Bradford become the World Club Champions. 

He was voted in 3rd in the Man of Steel voting too, but as soon as the Giants were promoted - with a win over Leigh Centurions in the NFP Grand Final, rejoined the club. His experience with the club in 2001 saw him return, and the leadership of Smith and Ralph Rimmer, now CEO of the RFL made sure that Costin would line up in the Claret & Gold for crack number two at the top-flight.

"The morale and enjoyment of previous year at the Giants brought me back. Ralph Rimmer was an amazing leader. I enjoyed his company. Tony Smith was still the coach and the players had stayed together in a full time squad the previous year. Everything added up for me. I was never going to go anywhere else."

The Giants stormed back in 2003, steering clear of the relegation zone by a distance and winning against St Helens, Wigan and coming on top in a nervous 30-24 win over Leeds Rhinos, the first win against the men from Headingley in 38 years. 

Costin believed the system that allowed the Giants to compete for 50-60 minutes in 2001 had been fine-tuned over the 2002 campaign to compete at the top-level for the full stretch in 2003. Smith took the plaudits, rightfully, but Costin remembers the leadership of Ken Davy and Ralph Rimmer moved the club in the right direction - and he was right, the club has steered clear of relegation every season since. 

"There was such a better understanding of how to play the game and commit to 80 mins. Tony had coached the same team to an undefeated season the year before in Championship and the team had learnt many things." 

"You could tell the club was moving forward. Ken Davy and Ralph Rimmer has the club moving in the right direction. It really was such a wonderful time and a wonderful club filled full of amazing people." 

That win against Leeds, also, was the moment that Costin considers his best try in the Claret & Gold. With seconds remaining on the clock and all to play for, Costin stretched out to plant the ball down to score to win the Giants' first West Yorkshire Derby in nearly four decades. 

⏪Throwback to July 2003 and it was a momentous afternoon at the McAlpine Stadium as @GiantsRL completed their first win over Leeds in 38 years when Brandon Costin’s 79th minute touchdown sealed the long-awaited 30-24 win 🏉

Who will win this relegation four-pointer on Friday? pic.twitter.com/fj1jrL1B3T

— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) July 30, 2019

"Only minutes to go and it was very close. We had had a field goal charged down and I scored from the play the ball and kicked the goal to give us victory over Leeds. Was a great day. I think the next week we did the same thing to Hull FC."

The Fiji Head Coach had many memorable moments in his three seasons with the club, but points to two close contests, but games where the club learned a great deal - with a buzzer beating draw against the men from the Capital in 2001 and a morale-boosting loss against the mighty St Helens - a side they would later beat in the 2003 season. 

"We had lost 15 consecutive games and we lined up against London at Huddersfield. We scored on the siren and kicked a goal from the sideline for a draw. Our first points in the season after 16 games."

"Against Saint Helens at Saints when we lost in the siren but it was after that game the team knew they could defeat any team in the comp."  

Costin has always been fondly remembered by the Cowbell Army since his retirement, and he has been remembered as a classy playmaker who transformed the Giants and straddled two of the three eras of it's Super League history. Our record pre and post-Costin says the most; He arrived in a team that struggled to keep up with the pace of Super League rugby, he left a comfortable Super League team whose time had come.