New Huddersfield Giants head coach Paul Anderson wasted no time in laying down the law to his players as they reported back for work at the start of the post-Nathan Brown regime.

Anderson was fast-tracked into the job following the Giants’ decision on Monday to sack Brown, just 24 hours after their Carnegie Challenge Cup exit at the hands of Warrington Wolves.
 
Brown revealed in Sunday’s post-match press conference that he had bowed to pressure from the players to change both personnel and the gameplan after a disastrous run of results that saw the team plunge from top spot in Stobart Super League to seventh.

Anderson’s first decision was to give his players yesterday off and today he delivered a no-nonsense lecture in which he made it clear he would not stand for player power.

“We’ve had a good meeting this morning and, if I’m being honest, I did all the talking,” said Anderson at his first official press conference as a head coach.

“My simple theory on it is, if they don’t respond, then they won’t play. I’ll bring someone else in to do it. They’ve been told that today.
 
“They know the black and white approach that I’m going to give them. If there’s things in the game they don’t want to do, then they’re telling me they don’t want to play.

“They welcomed what I had to say. I’ve had a fair response. They did a lot of listening and nobody had a problem with what I said. We moved on and we had a good training session.”

Anderson, who was due to start his three-year contract in November when Brown officially joins St Helens, will prepare the side for Sunday’s home game against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats single-handedly but is now hoping to speed up the appointment of his assistant Kieron Purtill.

“My position has been accelerated by a few months and I want to try to bring Kieron in as well,” he said. “It’s in the plans, the chairman is going to try and make it happen.”

Meanwhile, Anderson is confident his players will be in the right frame of mind come game time on Sunday.

“Once we get to game day and the week settles down, I can start to enjoy it but at the moment it’s all hands on deck,” he said.

“Monday was a down day because it wasn’t what I wanted to happen but, as sad as we are with what’s happened, the competition will not stop for us.

“I have to prepare the players to the best of my ability in the period that I have with them. We’ve just got to get everybody pulling in the right direction.

“I’ve been through this as a player and as a coach a couple of times. At the end of the day they are paid professionals.

“Things will change. On the field it won’t change dramatically because that’s not the right thing to do. I’ve got to get them doing the things that are in place better.

“I will tweak things as we go along but, mark my words, in time it will be Paul Anderson’s style of play which the players will buy into.”