Huddersfield boss Ian Watson says axed Great Britain star Jake Connor needs reserves action - as he’s not fit enough for Super League.
The mercurial stand-off, 28, will play for the second string on Friday night rather than the televised clash at Leeds. Struggling Giants have lost four of their last five games but Watson reckons they can kick-start without their big signing from Hull.
He said: “He needs some more miles in his legs and extra strengthening work around his knee.
“He’ll play reserves to tick some more boxes now to get him fit. He understands where we’re at and what we want him to get back to.
“What people don’t know is that Jake also put his hand up earlier in the year and played for about six weeks with a broken thumb when we were down on troops.
“Obviously, all players always want to play first-team. But Jake’s really good. He really understands where we’re at and what we want him to get back to.
“We can’t break him. Sending him to reserves, there’s no pressure and there’s no stigma. We’ve told him to just go and play and work on what we need.”
Connor - who produced the most try assists in Super League last term - returned to Huddersfield in the off-season but missed the start of the campaign having undergone major knee surgery.
He returned to action in March but has struggled for form and flitted between full-back, stand-off and centre.
Connor was dropped for Huddersfield’s last game, the loss at Warrington, but is not even included in the 21-man squad for the trip to Headingley.
However, Watson added that he has not contemplated shifting the ex-England player out on loan to gain that missing edge.
He said: “No. It’s not a consideration at all. If we send him out to another club, they might not look at the same type of things where we want him physically. We can’t develop him the way we want.
“Through his career, and especially at Hull, Jake’s been an individual who they needed to win games. We want him to be a team player here and improve certain areas.
“We said this year would be a project for Jake and one we’d build into and he’d find his feet in the season. But it’s tough to do that especially when people are expecting big things of him.
“This takes pressure off him. He’s been training on the opposition side in training at full-back, getting a hell of a lot more running in so when he does get back he’s fitter and better than when left.”
