Huddersfield Giants

History:

Huddersfield Giants are one of Rugby league's most illustrious clubs. Only Wigan and St Helens have won more championships than the Giants have and as Rugby League continues to grow from strength to strength Huddersfield are on the verge of bringing the glory days back to Kirklees.

In 1866, twenty members of the Huddersfield Athletic Club agreed to play a football match against twenty of the Huddersfield Rifle Corps at Rifle Field in Trinity Street. Although the result was a scoreless draw, a large crowd was attracted. In light of this, the Huddersfield Athletic Club agreed to start a football section, which was to start at the beginning of December 1866. Initially the Huddersfield Athletic Club made no contribution to the support of the football club and each paying member was forced to pay a subscription of 2s 6d. As the football club grew, it became a useful recruiting tool for the Huddersfield Athletic Club. In 1869 six matches were played and by 1870 three of the club's players had been selected to represent Yorkshire. By 1872, there were so many players that a second team was formed.

The growth in popularity of the club and the need for better facilities led to the Huddersfield Athletic Club approaching St John's Cricket Club with a proposal to merge the two clubs. St John's Cricket Club had been formed in 1866 at Hillhouse and had moved to Fartown ground. By 1875, when amalgamation talks began, over £800 had been spent on developing the new ground. At a meeting on November 27, 1875, at the Thornhill Arms Inn the two clubs agreed to merge to form the Huddersfield Cricket and Athletics Club. The motion was passed by 55 votes to 37.

Initially the football section stayed at Rifle Field, but alterations made in the summer of 1878 meant that rugby could begin at the start of the 1878/9 season with the visit of Manchester Rangers on November 2. The new ground would become the club's home for 114 years and would provide the club's famous "Fartown" nickname.

Huddersfield has had its ups and downs but for the first sixty years of the Rugby League it was a powerhouse club rivalled only by Wigan in terms of titles and trophies won. The team has seven Championship titles to its name, five of which came up to and including 1930.

The club's golden period came around the time of the First World War. The club was able to assemble a team of players from across the British Empire who swept all before them. Known as "The Team of All Talents", they were led by Harold Wagstaff and are still regarded as one of the finest football teams to have ever played. In the five years leading up to the First World War they won 13 trophies. In the 1914-15 they became only the second team to win "all four cups" when they lifted the Championship, the Challenge Cup, the Yorkshire Cup, and the Yorkshire League. Huddersfield's dominance prior to the First World War was such that they went unbeaten in 38 consecutive matches before the suspension of the league in 1915.

Huddersfield also has six Challenge Cup victories; almost adding a seventh in 2006 by beating Leeds Rhinos in the semi final, only to lose to St Helens in the Final.

In the latter half of the 20th century, Huddersfield's fortunes were not so good, with the team languishing in the lower divisions of Rugby League. Since the early nineties, however, the club has steadily climbed and is now back in the top flight attempting to relive the glory of its early years.

2008 has been a mixed campaign for the Giants. They are currently in the lower half of the league and are going through a period of transition after the sacking of Coach Jon Sharp.

Last month, the club announced that St George Illawarra Dragons coach Nathan Brown would replace Jon Sharp at the start of the 2009 season.

Honours:

Rugby League Championship: (7 times)
1911-12, 1912-13, 1914-15, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1948-49, 1961-62

Rugby League Challenge Cup: (6 times)
1912-13, 1914-15, 1919-20, 1932-33, 1944-45, 1952-53

Rugby League Division Two Championship: (2 times)
1974-75, 2002

Rugby League Division Three Championship: (1 time)
1991-92

Divisional Premiership: (1 time)
1998

Yorkshire Cup: (12 times)
1909-10, 1911-12, 1913-14, 1914-15, 1918-19, 1919-20, 1926-27, 1931-32, 1938-39, 1950-51, 1952-53, 1957-58.

Yorkshire League: (11 times)
1911-12, 1912-13, 1913-4, 1914-15, 1919-20, 1921-22, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1951-52.

National League Cup: (1 time)
2002

Caretaker Head Coach: Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson was appointed the caretaker coach of Huddersfield Giants after the sacking of Jon Sharp in June. Anderson, 36, began his playing career in 1991 as a prop for Leeds RLFC.

He spent the majority of his career at the Bradford Bulls, where he established himself as a Bradford and Great Britain stalwart. In 2005, Anderson moved to St Helens.
Anderson retired from playing at the end of the 2006 season in order to be an assistant coach with Huddersfield Giants at the start of the 2007 season.

After Sharp was relieved of his coaching duties at the Galpharm Stadium, Anderson and his co-coach Kieron Purtill took over the reigns of the Claret and Golds on a temporary basis until the end of the current campaign. Australian Nathan Brown will become the club’s new coach at the start of next season and it seems certain that Anderson will work alongside the former St George boss as his assistant.

Star Player: Rod Jensen

Rod joined the Giants mid-way through the 2007 season and had an immediate impact, galvanising the team and helping them on their way to a successful 5th place finish. He lived up to his nickname of 'Rocket' with several length-of-the-field tries towards the back end of last season, including a crucial try in the away win at Warrington where he outpaced known speedster Kevin Penny over 100 meters.

An all-time record try scorer in the Australian NRL competition, the Rocket has a reputation as the ultimate utility player and he has been known to fill in on the wing, at centre, second row, loose forward and at hooker in the past. He has Scandinavian heritage and plenty of experience, having played in an NRL Grand Final for North Queensland Cowboys in Australia.