After many months of planning and fundraising – the historic Huddersfield Giants scholarship tour of Australia is underway, as the talented crop of youngsters boarded the plane down under.

This is the first trip to the southern hemisphere in the clubs history and promises to be a tremendous learning experience as the club continues its commitment to providing a quality environment for aspiring Super League players.

We caught up with Head of Youth Performance Damian McGrath prior to their departure:

“There is a sense of relief that we have managed to get to this point and everybody has set off on the tour. Everything is ready for the players at the other end and everyone is chomping at the bit to get out there and get started.

“There have been a lot of meetings and discussions to get everything fully prepared but all the staff are happy with the preparations and delighted to be setting off. The players that I have spoken too prior to departure left with a mixture of excitement and nerves, it’s important to remember that they are only fifteen or sixteen years of age and for a lot of them it is the first time they will be away from home.”

McGrath gave an insight into the opening stages of the two week, 3-game tour;

“The group fly into Sydney on Saturday after what will be a long and gruelling journey, we have given them a day to get acclimatised and catch up on their sleep. The following day they go to Penrith Stadium to get their first taste of the NRL for their fixture against the Warriors, they will do a little bit of training then head up to Forster on the central coast to prepare for the first game against a district select 13.”

With fixtures against the North Coast select side as well as junior sides from famous Australian clubs Balmain Tigers and Manly Sea Eagles, McGrath anticipates the Giants side will learn a great deal in facing off against their opponents.

“It will give them a chance to benchmark themselves against players from the number one rugby league nation. They are facing boys of their own age and are able to see how they measure up in their development. We have a very big set of lads and in terms of preparation both on and off the field it’s hard to think we could have done anything else – the staff such as Paul Carlos, Peter Riding and Mick Slicker have prepared them for this trip very well and we will see how that measures up against their equivalents from Australia.”



[size=85Laura Windle (physio), Matthew Brook, Aaron Webb, Jordan Holland, Kyle Mayall, James Hesletine, Nathan Mason, Peter Aspinall, Ashley Hill, Josh Johnson, Jack Blagbrough, Ben Marchington, Liam Goodaire, Ryan McNeely (Scholarship Coach), Paul Carlos (Scholarship Coach)


Johnathan Foulds, Lewis Wilson, Elliot Gorman, Ben Whitehead, Jake Shoel, Peter Riding (Player Performance Manager), Ryan Barnaby (c), Mick Slicker (Scholarship Head Coach), Joel Farrell, Patrick Oakes, Liam Coe, Levi Adams. [/size

I think they'll cop a few hidings TBH given the amount of time they have to acclimatise and the fact that the Aussies are almost certainly going to be more advanced but hopefully it will inspire them and give them an idea of the level of commitment and work it's going to take to develop into top, top players. Good luck to them.

Dr Paul Morgan has done a fantastic job getting this off the ground in the time he has had.

He's done a great job for sure and no doubt will be wiser for the experience as well as building a network of helpful contacts for future tours, which will make it easier for him to develop it.

Fantastic work from all involved, results wont matter the experience will...and lets hope its the first of a regular event and strong ties built with Aus clubs.

We are trying to do one every other year.

With the costs that will be involved in this I think that's a pretty wise move to start things off. Flights alone will be costing tens of thousands I'd imagine.

Good stuff -well done to all concerned in organising this, can only be beneficial to the kids and the club in the long run !

Agree wadders.

Fantastic effort from Dr Paul Morgan after an uphill battle from the word go. People being very good at under estimating costs nearly put this initiative on a back burner.

I big round of applause goes out to everyone involved which also includes Nathan Brown.

North Coast Select 6 Huddersfield Giants 52

Great result, that will have put their future opponents on the alert! Well done lads, and all involved.

Seems like a very good result for the kids. the whole scolarship , youth team development and tour seem really well done.

If young kids are looking to join a professional club being able to offer them a tour of Australia at 16 and 17 is a huge incentive.

Excellent result for the Giants, there is plenty of Rugby League talent up there in that Forster/Port region,
I am going to saturdays game against the Tigers which should be a huge test for your team, i'll let you know how it goes.

This is an exciting and important tour for the future of the Giants, it's a bit disappointing to see there is more interest in the potential signing of a 31yo Aussie looking for one last big pay day.

Our Aussie Skando fan, Sincas, who circled the globe twice for some Giants footie will be attending with his camera. He'll be the one in a Giants 'Skandalis' shirt with a camera in one hand and a pint in the other.

Turns out score was 6-46!

Tries: Matty Brook 2, Aaron Webb 2, Nathan Mason 2, Elliott Gorman 1, Jonathan Foulds 1
Liam Coe kicking 7 from 8

Lost 40-12 against Balmain Tigers

Was a good game and there was plenty of positives despite the scoreline for the Giants, i think they were as good as the Tigers in most areas of the game however crucial errors were punished everytime.

The Giants started stronger and led 6-0 early and should have made it 12-0, then they couldn't get possession and lost prop Liam Goodaire which meant they couldn't rotate their props as they would have liked.

Players i was impressed with were props Jack Blagbrough and Josh Johnson, second rowers Nathan Mason and Peter Aspinall.
All four look outstanding young players.
In the backs the best were Elliot Gorman and Joel Farrell while Kyle Mayall and fullback Brooks more than matched their opposites.

I'll try and post some pics

Giants lost final match against Manly Sea-Eagles 36-0.

Well not exactly the drubbings that could have been expected in the last two fixtures and as you've already stated it's about the experience not the results.

This sounds like a really excellent initiative and hopefully The Giants will be able to get some publicity out of this to help fund future tours.

I also have been led to beleive that the later teams fielded more 'experienced' players in the teams as well.

pmh, how many young Australian players will now be interested in signing for the Huddersfield Giants in the future?

How many young British lads will be keen to sign will now be interested in signing for the Huddersfield Giants in the future?

Erm, hold on, let me look out the window.

Maybe about seven or is it six. Can't be sure, it's a bit foggy.