Huddersfield Giants host London Broncos at the John Smith’s Stadium as they look to bounce back immediately after the horror-show defeat at Leeds Rhinos.
TEAM FORM GUIDE
Huddersfield Giants
The Giants played superbly in their last home game, beating Castleford Tigers 20-18 with a virtually flawless performance.
The 38-18 defeat to Leeds, however, shows their inconsistency and highlighted why they have only won four games from eleven in Super League.
London Broncos
Broncos sit bottom of Super League on points difference, with heavy defeats against Warrington Wolves and Catalans Dragons contributing heavily to their fall down the table.
A win at Huddersfield could see them move tenth, though.
SQUAD NEWS
Huddersfield Giants
Head coach Simon Woolford has brought versatile forward Jon Luke Kirby and full-back Scott Grix into the Giants’ squad.
Alex Mellor also returns after being unavailable for the Good Friday defeat to Leeds at Headingley.
Huddersfield Giants 19-man squad: McIntosh, McGillvary, Turner, Uate, Frawley, Clough, Leeming, Matagi, Murphy, Mellor, Lawrence, O’Brien, Ta’ai, English, Jake Wardle, Grix, Russell, Kirby, Joe Wardle
London Broncos
London are missing Jordan Abdull – the half-back was injured against Catalans.
Winger Kieran Dixon comes in having missed the loss at home to the French side, while hooker Sam Davis is a potential debutant.
London Broncos 19-man squad: Adebiyi, Battye, Butler, Cunningham, Davis, Dixon, Fleming, Gee, Hindmarsh, Ioane, Kear, Morgan, Pelissier, Pitts, Richards, Smith, Walker, Williams, Yates
HEAD TO HEAD
Huddersfield won the reverse fixture 26-38 and ran in seven tries on their way to victory.
Joe Wardle, Jordan Turner, Akuila Uate (2), Jermaine McGillvary, Sebastine Ikahihifo and Alex Mellor all crossed as the Giants recorded a crucial victory.
KEY BATTLE
Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants) vs Kieran Dixon (London Broncos)
Despite missing numerous games through injury at the start of the season, McGillvary is Huddersfield’s top try scorer in 2019, as he was last season, and he will need to be on top form once more if Huddersfield are to record their fifth win of the season.
And Dixon is equally important for London. Although the Giants beat the Broncos last month, the full-back crossed twice and will look to implement his attacking qualities once more.
THE IMPORTANT DETAILS
Date: 22nd April 2019
Venue: John Smith’s Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: M. Griffiths
WHO WILL WIN?
Given both teams’ retched defensive records, this promises to be a high-scoring encounter. Added that Huddersfield seem to have found consistency in their home performances of late, I’m backing them to take the two points: 28-20.
