Huddersfield Giants and Rugby League Purgatory

If you are a Huddersfield Giants fan, then you will be familiar with disappointment and dreadful performances. There is an argument that Saturday's defeat to York was as low as it got. Two late tries could not disguise what was a truly abysmal display.

With the gap now at six points, Huddersfield look set to finish bottom of Super League in 2026 barring an unexpected upturn in form.

An aberration in 2022 aside, Huddersfield have finished no higher than 9th in any year since 2021 and have never as much as threatened a play off push. A far cry from the Huddersfield side of the early 2010's, who were play off regulars, won a League Leaders' Shield in 2013 and came close again in 2015.

Huddersfield feel as though they are in a vicious cycle. They play in front of low crowds in a soulless bowl of a stadium. It is therefore far from the most difficult away day for opponents. This is also unappealing to players and coaches when recruiting. Their results get worse and the cycle continues.

I have a degree of sympathy with Huddersfield fans. Their crowds may be low in number but the loyalty of those who do attend is as strong as anyone in Rugby League.

Many Rugby League fans question the worth of Huddersfield continuing to be a top flight team. The drumbeat of public opinion seems to be marching towards London replacing Huddersfield.

However, the make-up of Rugby League's top flight is no longer decided just by on-field performance. The criteria-based system muddies the waters.

In 2025, despite a poor season on the field, Huddersfield improved their grading score from 14.48 to 14.6578.

In June 2026, Huddersfield's "Director for Change" (I don't know either) Ralph Rimmer gave interviews to the media expressing confidence that Huddersfield's score will improve in 2026.

Huddersfield already sit above York (13.04 points) and Toulouse (13.25 points) in the grading system. Salford, who sit in 15th spot, seem unlikely to overhaul Huddersfield, meanwhile London sit on 11.65 points.

The criteria have changed to place more emphasis on a team's on-field performance. Even so, Huddersfield start with a significantly higher score than three competitor teams. To be overhauled by three of those teams (when Toulouse and York will lose an uplift from winning trophies last year) seems quite unlikely.

In his interview with Love Rugby League, Ralph Rimmer said he believes Huddersfield's score will "go forward" this year.

Let's take that at face value for now (as it would be bold in the extreme to make such public proclamations and that turn out to be incorrect).

Huddersfield need only to improve their score from 14.6578 to 15.0, and that will secure a Grade A licence and guarantee a Super League place for as long as the score is maintained. This does not seem a fanciful proposition.

So if we assume Huddersfield stay as a Super League club in 2027, then what?

Maintaining Super League status won't stop Huddersfield being uncompetitive. It won't automatically bring the crowds in. It won't make player and coach recruitment any easier.

The club is stuck in Rugby League purgatory. The criteria based system means established clubs are hard to displace.

Huddersfield will likely meet the criteria to stay in Super League. If this only serves to continue their status as whipping boys of the competition. Is that really a win? Does it really make the club any better? Does this make the league any better?

Who does it serve to protect a club which seems to be out of place in a top flight league? The flaws of a grading system to determine the make-up of a league is once again laid bare. 

The arguments in favour (i.e. that it promotes financial stability) made a mockery of by the demise of Salford, Halifax and North Wales Crusaders in the last 12 months.

In the last decade, we have seen Hull KR, Leigh and Wakefield all get relegated and all return to establish themselves as play off regulars.

That may lead some to say conclude that relegation was the best thing to happen to those clubs. In part, I agree. But their returns to Super League and success once they got here wasn't by chance. It was through sustained and smart investment.

Even if Huddersfield were relegated, it would be naive to assume this would cleanse the club of all ills. Yet it does offer hope that there is a route back to being a competitive club. There is a model that can be repeated by Huddersfield to shake themselves out of their current rut. 

It is easier said than done and an almighty challenge for the likes of Ken Davy, Ralph Rimmer and Richard Thewlis.