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2025 Season Review: Huddersfield Giants

12 hrs

There were Giant headaches for Huddersfield Giants, as injuries disrupted their plans to challenge for the top six.

It was a tough induction to life as a permanent head coach for Huddersfield boss Luke Robinson.

The former Giants hooker or half-back had to wait 10 matches for the side’s first league win of the season, having been shorn of a host of his key players, some even before a ball had been passed.

Robinson’s side eventually broke their duck with a gritty 12-10 win over Hull FC in Newcastle at Magic Weekend, lifting them off the foot of the table.

There were still difficult times ahead - Huddersfield would be nilled three times before the end of the season. But there was no doubt the Giants also made improvements in the closing months of the campaign, picking up a number of wins.

A second victory over the Black and Whites - this time away and by 30-14 - was among their best performances of the season, and that was followed by a hard-fought home triumph over Catalans.

It will give Robinson something to build on moving forward, a positive considering that three members of his first 13 squad numbers managed just 15 appearances between them.

That included key playmaker Adam Clune, disrupting Huddersfield’s creative plans, while a host of other senior figures missed large chunks of the year.

Their luck was perhaps best summed up by the mid-season capture of Niall Evalds from Hull KR - only for him to quickly succumb to the 2025 injury jinx too.

But what that also allowed for was the development of several young players, headed by the influential George Flanagan.

The 20-year-old full-back finished the season as the side’s most dangerous attacking weapon and one of Super League’s most exciting players, reaching double figures in tries and proving a constant source of danger to opposition defences.

A trademark George Flanagan effort ™?@GiantsRL ?#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/Vl0e2WL4kM
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) August 9, 2025

A handful of other youngsters made their senior debuts, and Robinson will be hopefully that experience stands his squad in good stead next year.

Among the more senior figures, skipper Leroy Cudjoe again proved what an invaluable servant he has been for the club with another year of consistency and class at the age of 37, and Australian recruit Jacob Gagai edged out Flanagan as top try scorer.

Matty English, Ashton Golding, Oliver Wilson and Zac Woolford were solid performers in the pack with outside back Jake Bibby a near ever present.

But Flanagan aside, the Giants perhaps lacked the attacking sparkle to chalk up more wins and pull away from the lower reaches.

With Cudjoe now retiring Robinson will need a new skipper and leadership in the middle, and will hope for more fortune on the injury front if the Giants are to return to competing with Super League’s strongest clubs again next year.

Key Man

In his final season as a Betfred Super League player, Leroy Cudjoe was always industrious whether with or without the ball at the age of 37.

Cudjoe's first #MagicWKND try ever, and it was a great one! ??#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/H9B3pZ5vAP
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 4, 2025