11 March 2023 , 17:00
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Talented Huddersfield Giants playmaker Will Pryce shrugged off his man-of-the-match exploits and insisted: “I’m still just trying to earn my stripes.”
The England Knights star, 20, was hugely influential as the West Yorkshire club comfortably eased past Castleford Tigers 36-6 on Friday night. And after being dropped to the bench, he certainly proved a point to boss Ian Watson. Pryce came on after an early injury to scrum-half Theo Fages and instantly took the game by the scruff of the neck.
He used his trademark sidestep to score one try, dinked in a perfect grubber for Jake Bibby to touch down another and caused Castleford all sorts of problems with his pace. Pryce, of course, is heading to the NRL with Newcastle Knights in 2024. But he certainly hasn’t fallen in love with himself and knows he must keep improving given all the creative talent at Watson’s disposal.
Great Britain maverick Jake Connor is closing in on his return after injury, Tonga star Tui Lolohea runs the show from full-back and Olly Russell's form meant Pryce was shunted to the replacements on Friday. Watson praised him for the positive way he reacted to that decision and Pryce said: “I love these boys to bits. We have a really good group here at Huddersfield and I am still trying to earn my stripes, earn respect.
“Wherever Watto needs me in the game, I’ll do my best for the team. For anyone coming off the bench, there’s an emphasis on making a mark and trying to hype the game up a bit. I tried to do that. The best part of my game is running so I used that to my advantage and Tui and the boys keep telling me to keep going forward, keep running. It was nice to go over for one.”
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Will Pryce aims a high-five at Jermaine McGillvary after scoring a try (Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)Giants will aim for a third straight win when they host Wigan Warriors on Friday. Pryce linked up with Russell to good effect against Castleford and they will likely continue together as France scrum-half Fages awaits news on his injured calf. Having lost their season opener at Warrington and replied with an 8-0 win at Wakefield - Fages and Pryce pairing as halves in both - it was critical they built further.
With Wigan up next, and then champions St Helens, the challenges are only going to get bigger. Pryce admitted: “It was massive from the boys on Friday. We really dug deep. Watto emphasised beforehand that we can’t be a side that goes one win, one loss, one win. So it was good to back up last week’s victory against Wakefield and get some attack right which had been a bit clunky for the last few weeks. It was really enjoyable. And now we’ll see what we can do against Wigan.”