Rugby League Coaching Manuals

Walters said: "It was a spirited performance, although I don't think that effort has been our problem this year, just in the end we just weren't good enough tonight.

"Again, and I sound like a broken record, we've had our injuries tonight, like we have had throughout the season.

"Huddersfield are clearly a good side, and they are in the finals, they were probably a little focused on that than tonight, the game didn't really reach any decent levels I thought."

Walters was keen to pay tribute to his players that are leaving the club next season like Casey McGuire.

He said: "Casey has been superb for the club while I've been here and even before I got here, you saw out there tonight the impact he can have on a game, and he does that for us on a regular basis.

"Dallas (Johnson) has been a rock for us all season, he's tackled anything that moved and we all wish him well back in the NRL."

Walters added: "I've enjoyed the two years over here, both from a living point of view and career wise also, looking back we've had some good moments here and some really bad ones, and right now it's not so good."

Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown was pleased with the tough opposition his side faced ahead of the play-offs.

He said: "In the end it was probably a good game for us given the heat out here tonight, and the game wasn't a great game, but I feel that we had to work hard to compete in there and win it and earn our money.

"That is what we probably needed coming into the final. Apart from the Wigan game we've had a relatively easy run through to the finals and we've put some big scores on sides after we got away from them early, so from that point of view I think that the workout that we got was good."

But Brown was left disappointed with the way his side performed on the night.

He added: "Did we play great? No we probably didn't, but like I said, I was happy with the workout that we got.

"The humidity probably got to the Pommie boys tonight, those guys know when it's hot, and from a match conditioning point of view, the hit out was really good for us going forward.

"Another plus for us is that we've come through tonight injury free, and heading into the play-offs injury free will benefit us no end."