New Huddersfield Giants boss Jim Lenihan is well aware of the task ahead of him as he tries to turn the club’s fortunes around.
The Giants currently sit at the bottom of the Superliga table, with criticism such as crowd sizes and recruitment regularly at the club.
The Australian takes on the role following the sacking of Luke Robinson on March 22 after Huddersfield lost all five of their opening Super League games.
The Giants said they would be looking to hire someone to look towards 2030 and beyond to build a long-term foundation, and with that in mind Lenihan announced a long-term contract because of his “vision for the club”.
Lenihan, who made 21 appearances as a player for Huddersfield during the 1999 season, most recently worked as head coach of the Brisbane Tigers in his native Australia.
Prior to that he worked as an assistant coach with NRL side Gold Coast Titans from 2019 to 2025, taking over as interim head coach in 2023.
So how will he approach his time as head coach? First and foremost, he will seek to build an identity and “unapologetically” be a team Huddersfield can be proud of.
“There will be a lot of things to work through and adjust. I think the biggest thing I like about coaching is coaching against an identity. I think we want to establish who we are here at Huddersfield,” Lenihan said.
“Once we’ve established an identity I think it’s really important to recruit people who fit that identity and then make sure we really do Huddersfield proud. Huddersfield is a hard-working, proud area. We want to be a side that represents that.
“It’s really important to me that we recruit the right people and make Huddersfield a place where it’s really proud of its football team. I want to be unapologetic about that.
“We want to get out there and it’s not a quick fix, but we definitely have to have an idea of ​​who we are and what we want to be and how we go about it.”
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Highlights from the Betfred Super League clash between Leigh Leopards and Huddersfield Giants
While Lenihan has ideas about how recruiting will go, he made it clear that all players have a clean slate to show they can fit into the culture he’s trying to build.
“I’ve got to come in here and earn everybody’s trust. I’ve got to earn everybody’s respect. And part of that is coming in and everybody having a fresh slate, I think to give everybody the opportunity,” he added.
“There are no black marks against anyone’s name under my way of thinking.
“You get that respect and it’s your actions after that that keeps it at that point or slowly erodes it. So we definitely will, we’re always looking at our recruiting and what our moves would be.
“I think it’s an ongoing process and a daily process. But there will definitely be some time for people to change their minds.”
Superligaen 2026 – key dates and what to look out for
- Superliga in Paris: Sat 6 June: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris)18.30 UK (Sky Sports)
- Magic weekend: July 4-5 July
- Rivals Round Reverse: July 23-26. July
- Elimination Playoffs: September 19-20. September
- Play-off semi-finals: September 26-27 September
- Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.
Sky Sports will once again show every game in the Super League live this season – including two games in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five games each week shown on Sky Sports+