Huddersfield Giants star struck down by flu defies the odds to play in big win

Huddersfield Giants head coach Ian Watson paid a rich tribute to Joe Greenwood after the second-rower defied a sickness bug to help his team win 14-12 at Wakefield Trinity. Watson’s plans for the game were severely disrupted after a flu bug ripped through the Giants’ camp, forcing winger Jermaine McGillvary hours before kick-off.

Yet Greenwood and Oliver Russell defied the bug to play important roles in the win at Belle Vue, much to the delight of Watson. “I left our house at four o’clock and then I got a call to say ‘he’s struggling, he’s struggling and he’s struggling’, said the Huddersfield boss.

“There were five players who were struggling and two of them were not expected to get through the warm-up, so it was like ‘right okay, we’ve got people in the squad, so we’re just going to have to deal with what we’ve got’.

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“As we got to the training area before we set off, Jez was in not fit state, so we decided it wasn’t best to take him on the coach. It’s been chaotic but Joe Greenwood, who wasn’t expected to get through the warm-up, was sensational. I thought he was outstanding and we’ve had a couple of others – Olly Russell didn’t train and it was looking like Jake Wardle was going to play at six (stand-off).”

On former Wigan Warriors man Greenwood, Watson added: “He played big minutes and we thought we were going to have to bring him off at half-time. We were looking at him and thinking ‘he’s not going to get through’ and then we had a little bit of a break which probably gave him enough to get back.

“He was saying ‘I’m struggling to find my energy and to get my second wind’ so we got him in at half-time and said ‘just go hard and we’ll see how you go’.