Preview: Huddersfield v St Helens (Round
13)

Former Wakefield and St Helens prop forward Keith Mason was brought in from the cold on Friday when he joined Huddersfield on a two-and-a-half year contract.

The 24-year-old Mason moved on loan to Castleford in the close season but has not played for three months after being frozen out at the newly-promoted Tigers.

He became the forgotten man of Super League after a proposed move to Wigan was thwarted by Saints, who still held his registration, and had been linked with a move to Whitehaven.

But Saints gave their blessing for Mason to join Huddersfield on a permanent deal and he will make his Giants debut against them at the Galpharm Stadium on Saturday.

?I?ve coached Keith at Wakefield and St Helens and know exactly what he can do,? said coach Jon Sharp.

?He is a big, aggressive front-rower with an excellent attitude and I know he will do well here.

?His arrival will give everyone at the club a massive boost and obviously adds even more competition for pack places.

?With his recent experience, I know he is desperate to get back onto the competitive field and make an immediate impact.?

The 6ft 3ins, 16st Mason made 63 appearances for St Helens after joining them from Melbourne Storm in 2003 but played only twice for the Tigers.

He faces a tough start as Huddersfield, whose five-match losing run is the worst in Super League, take on the team with the best run.

Saints are the only club to have won all 12 League matches this season plus one Powergen Challenge Cup-tie and last tasted defeat at home to Bradford in last season?s play-offs. Their last defeat away from home came at the Galpharm Stadium in the Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull last July but victory on Saturday would enable them to set a club record of 13 straight wins, beating their previous best set in the first season of Super League in 1996.

?They?re looking pretty dominant at the moment,? said Sharp, formerly assistant to Ian Millward at Knowsley Road.

?They are full of confidence and are certainly the stand-out side at the moment.

?But when we execute well and play with a bit of confidence, we know we?re a difficult side to beat, irrespective of the opposition.

?If you spend too much time looking at what Saints have got, you lose focus.? Huddersfield, who were pipped 18-16 at home to Saints in March, were hammered 46-14 by bottom club Wigan in their last home match but went some way to redeeming themselves at Harlequins last Saturday, even though they went down to fifth straight defeat.

?We didn?t have much to build on from the Wigan game but we improved so much in such short space of time,? said Sharp. ?It was very encouring for us and we were disappointed we didn?t pick up the points.?

Saints continued on their merry way with a 34-8 win over Wakefield a week ago but hard taskmaster Daniel Anderson insists there is more to come.

?We?re in a bit of a winning roll but I wasn?t completely happy with our performance last week and, having watched the video, I don?t see any reason to change my mind,? he said.

?It was a spluttering offensive display with some wonderful individual performances. Four players produced big plays and we scored tries off them.?

Huddersfield v St Helens, Galpharm Stadium, Saturday May 6

Huddersfield 18-man: Reilly, Aspinwall, Evans, De Vere, Donlan, Paul, Crabtree, Drew, Gannon, Nero, Snitch, Jones, Jackson, March, Smith, McDonald, Raleigh, Mason.

St Helens 18-man: Wellens, Gardner, Lyon, Talau, Meli, Pryce, Fozzard, Cunningham, Wilkin, Sculthorpe, Roby, Hooper, P. Anderson, V. Anderson, Graham, Moore, Fa'asavalu, Smith.

Ref P Bentham