Scott Grix scored the fastest hat-trick in Super League history to help Huddersfield Giants move up to fourth in the table with their third straight win, consigning Wakefield Trinity Wildcats to the bottom of the table in the process.
Grix, an Ireland international, crossed for three tries in the opening nine minutes of this West Yorkshire derby to guide the Giants to yet another win over their local rivals, with the 44-14 victory continuing their recovery from a sluggish start to the season.
Huddersfield were rooted to the bottom three weeks ago after three losses, but thanks largely to an impressive tally of points from former Wakefield players, their hoodoo over the Wildcats continued. Huddersfield have now won the last five meetings between the sides.
With five former Wakefield players in their squad, the ex-Wakefield contingent posted 30 of Huddersfield’s 44 points to back up recent victories against Widnes and Castleford in some style. The Giants’ defensive record is only bettered by St Helens, who have six wins in succession to start the season.
“I thought we got off to a fantastic start, and although the game got scrappy we played our way out of it and scored some superb tries,” said the Huddersfield assistant coach, Kieron Purtill. “We regained our composure well and regained our focus nicely.”
The story is fast becoming a grim one for Wakefield though, and with the bottom four in Super League consigned to competing against teams from the Championship when the divisions split after 23 rounds of action, being bottom of the table after the opening six weeks is far from an ideal position to be in. Things do not get any easier, as Wakefield face the daunting prospect of a trip to Wigan on Friday night, before a hectic Easter period.
“We shot ourselves in the foot yet again at a period when we had momentum,” said the Wakefield coach, James Webster. “You can’t win games when you complete at under 45% and until we stop doing it we won’t win any games. We didn’t start well enough, and I’m not being disrespectful to Huddersfield here but they posted 44 points without being anywhere near their best – that’s the disappointing thing.”
Grix’s three tries laid the platform for this Huddersfield victory and, ultimately, it was a lead they would never surrender. The hosts threatened a comeback with three scores of their own either side of half-time but it would prove futile. Richard Owen and the captain Danny Kirmond made it 18-8 at the break, before a try for youngster Jordan Crowther and a goal for Craig Hall left the game finely poised at 18-14.
From there on though, the Giants would click up a gear, as 26 points in as many second-half minutes sealed a comfortable win. First, two former Wakefield men in Brett Ferres and Danny Brough crossed the whitewash before further scores from Leroy Cudjoe and Ukuma Ta’ai added a healthy touch of gloss.
In the other Super League game, Widnes leap from the bottom to the lofty heights of fifth with their second win of the season after surviving a late scare to overcome Hull Kingston Rovers 20-16.
The Vikings led 20-4 entering the final quarter but tries from Ken Sio and Kris Welham set up a grandstand finish. A brace of scores from Paddy Flynn and Danny Galea had put Widnes in control. Ben Cockayne was KR’s other scorer as they slumped to second from bottom.
Wakefield Hall; Riley, Collis, Arundel, Owen; Miller, T Smith; Scruton, Washbrook, Griffin, Lauitiiti, Kirmond, Ryan. Interchange McShane, Simon, D Smith, Crowther. Tries Collis, Kirmond, Crowther. Goal Hall.
Huddersfield Grix; McGillvary, Cudjoe, Wardle, Murphy; Brough, Ellis; Huby, Robinson, Kopczak, Ferres, Ta’ai, Lawrence. Interchange Crabtree, Hughes, Wood, Johnson. Tries Grix 3, Ferres, Brough, Cudjoe, Ta’ai. Goals Brough 6, Ellis 2.
Referee J Cobb (Manchester). Attendance 4,354.
