Paul Cooke: Battle between Hull's Holdsworth and Huddersfield's Brough is key
HULL'S trip to league-leaders Huddersfield tomorrow brings up a truly mouth-watering clash as Daniel Holdsworth goes head-to-head with Danny Brough.
The impact of Holdsworth on the Hull FC side has been laid bare in the past two weeks, as the Black and Whites were awful without him at Widnes and then excellent with him in a 52-0 rout of Castleford last Friday.
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Hull's Daniel Holdsworth will go head-to-head with Huddersfield's Danny Brough
Without doubt, if Hull are to be the top-four side the owner wants, they need their number six on the field and playing as much as possible.
And his clash with Brough tomorrow will be a true battle of the smart men.
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In Brough, the Giants have a real match winner.
You only have to watch the highlights of their victory over Leeds last weekend to see why he is the most important player in their team.
The mere fact the only loss the Giants have suffered this season, to Bradford, came with Brough sitting in the stands, says it all.
There is no doubt that Hull will be hoping Holdsworth can be the difference in these big games, exactly the kind they've lost in previous seasons.
Just who will control the game best? Who will guide his team around the pitch best?
Who will kick better? Who will lead their team to victory?
I can't wait to see the outcome of this intriguing battle.
Holdsworth should see tomorrow's clash as an opportunity to really stamp his mark on this FC team and come out on top against a top quality play-maker.
There's no doubt it is a huge test for both Holdsworth and the Hull FC team and, while the battle of the halves promises to be quality, the game will be won by the battle of the big men in the middle.
It's an area the Giants have recruited heavily in by signing Craig Kopczak, Ukama Ta'ai and Stuart Fielden.
They have, without a doubt, made a major difference and brought a dominance to games for the Giants. The FC pack have a big job on to contain and overcome a big, physical pack.
The Giants bring a huge presence onto the field, they are well coached, well drilled and have begun the season in great form.
Thankfully, Hull have plenty of positives to focus on after last week's win over the Tigers.
I know a few key players will be missing, but another huge plus last week for coach Peter Gentle was the return of prop Liam Watts, as he gives the pack a new dimension with his ball skills, off-loads and general size in the middle of the park.
Defensively, FC were superb last week.
Keeping any team to nil in Super League is a hell of an achievement, and it all points to a close contest over in West Yorkshire.
These are two quality teams and the result could well be down to a momentary lapse in concentration. Pressuring Brough in every single department of the game is key.
Hull must attack him when they have the ball to tire him, pressure his kicking game at all times and make him play in an uncomfortable way in attack by allowing him no time or space on the ball.
Hull can travel with confidence, but it's a real step up in class they face. Giants, to me, are a team who look very much at ease with each others' styles of play.
I'm tipping a Giants win on home soil, by 10 points, which will no doubt please the Black and Whites, given my tipping track record.
7 Comments
by 3biesgalore
Saturday, March 16 2013, 9:46AM
“johnndpearl,its called jealousy,especially when their chairman states that they cant afford to spend upto their salary cap,whereas your neigbours across the road can,they then realise that the players they have coming in are not in the same class as whats coming into their rivals on the otherside of the city,another point is that hullfc are always spoken of by the media as a big club,and rovers are are never spoken of as being such,especially when they have to aquire funds by flogging their best players and saving on the salary cap £100k i believe, and £100k each for the transferred players bringing in £300k to help to reduce the losses to come over the present season alone,remember it was the big earners who departed last season to bring down the deficit,dobson would have been offloaded to,but he is the team and even hudgell knows that would be the end of the robins if he departed,just dont know whats going to help them to get through next season,dont think they do either,thats why they prey on the hullfc threads,the last big thing they had to shout about was paul cooks departure from hullfc,and as we now know the biggest mistake that paul cooke made in his entire career,little did he know that he had signed his superleague career away, to write an impartial weekly column in the local rag during the RL season,but as paul cooke has said on more than one occasion, its all in the book lol.”
by 3biesgalore
Saturday, March 16 2013, 9:01AM
“brough was a good player at hullfc,problem was we had sharpe as our coach,who dismantled a first class team,too build his own,when he came we had the team that mcrea had built,that took us to wembley cup glory,and a playoff final at old trafford,and then, the dismantling began, first to go i believe was mcmenemy i believe?.”
by FC_ON_THE_UP
Saturday, March 16 2013, 8:58AM
“Eastern Robin, that's why Brough is an England regular isn't it ? Not.”
by Sebasteeno
Saturday, March 16 2013, 8:23AM
“Brough has a habit of playing awesome for a few then going missing for a few so lets hope tonight he goes missing. Failing that our forwards need to be at the top of their game but with Watts and Green playing i have high hopes”
by johnndpearl
Friday, March 15 2013, 9:36PM
“why is it that when ever a story breaks on here the dobbins have to be first to comment on everything. o k danny b is a class player but if like last year you get in his face then the cracks start to appear, he gets tired and makes mistakes on the other hand danny h is a cool customer and take things in his stride,on paper this looks like a certain 2 points for the giants but i am not to sure.the big bombs seem to be the in thing at the moment but danny h showed last week that we can do that as well. the forward battle will be interesting but if the weather is bad and the ground wet then this could be a leveller. the dobbins won't have it all their own way on sunday and i predict a bulls win especially at home.good luck f.c do your best you never know.”
by airlie22
Friday, March 15 2013, 8:22PM
“youre right brough is the best half back in the country bar none”
by Eastern_Robin
Friday, March 15 2013, 7:58PM
“Brough is twice the player that Holdsworth is, No contest.”