Huddersfield coach on why Chris Hill will play an ‘important’ role for Giants

Huddersfield coach Ian Watson believes Chris Hill will play an important role for his side in 2022.

The 34-year-old international prop made the switch from Warrington during the off-season on a two-year deal.

Hill enjoyed nine years at Wolves, having joined them in 2012 from Leigh.

The England and Great Britain forward won two Challenge Cups with Warrington. He played in seven major finals including four Super League Grand Finals.

Now in a career move to the John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield boss Watson reveals why he was a major signing for the club.

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Watson: Chris Hill ‘massively’ important to Huddersfield

“I think at Salford I was really lucky at to be able to go and get a Lee Mossop type player and I’ve seen how important he was for our squad and our club,” Watson told Love Rugby League.

“He eventually became the club captain at Salford and led us obviously to a Grand Final and to a Challenge Cup final there. 

“Chris Hill is of the same mould and kind of mentality and the way that he plays the game. He plays the game tough. He’s a smart player as well and he leads by example in what he does. I felt we needed that in our middles at Huddersfield.

“If you look through the squad, you know they are very talented, but a lot of them are quite young. They just need to be guided because young players will make mistakes. 

“And what we needed was an all-head, like Chris Hill, who will come in and he’ll guide them youngsters the right way and show them the right way to do things throughout the week as well.”

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Hill and Theo Fages to lead Huddersfield

Watson continued: “Similar to like Theo (Fages). Theo is only young, but he leads by example in how professional he is away from the training ground and playing ground in terms of nutrition and his preparation and they’re the big things that we need the younger players at Huddersfield to see and to do. 

“I don’t think the club had that kind of development and education there before. 

“So that’s why people like Chris Hill are massively important. 

“To be fair, I didn’t know whether we’d be able to get Chris Hill because last year, he was still one of the top forwards. 

“We had a look at his stats before we played them last year. And there was only Alex Walmsley who was better than him at that time in the season, which goes to show what kind of level he’s playing at. 

“So being able to get him in was a massive, massive plus for a club like Huddersfield.”

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