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Huddersfield Giants celebrated what they had dubbed the biggest announcement in their history with a resounding win, and head coach Jim Lenihan has now issued his verdict. The Giants won 42-20 on the day that they confirmed that they will play at Dewsbury’s FLAIR Stadium in 2027, confirming rugby league’s worst-kept secret. Owner Ken Davy will pump £10 million into the stadium at Dewsbury to bring it to Super League standards though he’s adamant that it is not a permanent move, with the Giants owner hopeful that the club can and will be based out of Huddersfield in the future. That announcement came at half time with the Giants having led 36-0 at the half and it did seem to dampen the atmosphere, however, head coach Jim Lenihan was clear that the result was deserved based on recent progression. “Three weeks ago, we were not going to win a game for the rest of the year,” Lenihan joked as he started his post-match interview on Sky Sports. “I’m really happy for the guys. They’ve been putting in a lot of effort, it’s really good for the club, it’s been a good club day today. Really happy all around.” Huddersfield Giants boss calls for improvements after slow second half The Giants were nigh-on perfect in the first half as they opened up a 36-0 lead and Lenihan admitted that he felt it was an accumulation of the club’s recent progress. “I think we’ve been building towards it,” he said. “It’s still really important for us to keep finding parts of the game that we’re trying to get right. The first half was really good but clearly we’ve still got things we’ve got to work on and it’s not just the football part, it’s the mental part.” “We might not have come out of the shed as well after halftime, but that’s a part we’ve got to keep learning and getting better and developing and evolving in ourselves.” Whilst admitting that the second half needs improvement, he added: “I don’t want to sort of have the second half start to be something that we’re talking about but at the end of the day, the first half was a really good performance. “We came out here to win a game and if someone offered me 42-20 before the game started, I would have taken it.” When speaking to Sky Sports, Lenihan’s players were still engaging with the fans, taking pictures and signing shirts, and on that connection, the head coach said: “It’s really important to the boys and really important to me that we are a football team that is proud for the community and we want to represent a hardworking class of people that come to football games and want to see a team that represents them. “We’re working really hard at doing that. It’s something that we’re always going to keep working towards and happily today we made some people happy.” 3/3 for Lenihan’s men, get in! 🙌#GiantsUnleashed | @BondItUK 🤝 pic.twitter.com/GgjXoaWLxn — Huddersfield Giants 🐮🔔 (@Giantsrl) August 8, 2026