Afterlife of Reilly could inspire an act of giant-killing

Paul Reilly will prepare for tomorrow's Challenge Cup final as he does for all big games - by having a chat with his gran. That would be only mildly unusual but for the fact that Joan Reilly has been dead for more than a decade.

Huddersfield's full-back against St Helens at Twickenham, their longest-serving player and a dyed-in-the-wool home-town hero, does not strike you as a closet spiritualist. "I don't normally pray, but I do before a big game and that's when I speak to my grandma," Reilly says.

When his parents split up during his childhood, he was largely brought up by Joan and it is from her that much of his inspiration still comes.

"She never saw me play as a professional, but she always told me that I'd make it, when everybody else said I wouldn't. She was a believer and she's still helping me do things. It feels like she's still looking after me. I've played for my home-town club for 10 years, played for England and now I'm in a cup final. Someone must be looking out for me and I think it's her."

These sentiments will surprise opponents and spectators who regard Reilly as a rugged and sometimes infuriating adversary. He has the battered look of a man for whom self-preservation has never ranked highly and few contemporary players have his knack for winding up opponents.

"I've never had any trouble winding up opposition spectators," he admits. "They're probably not my No 1 fans, but that's just the way it's turned out. It could be something to do with being difficult to put down. It must frustrate 18st and 19st props and I admit I give them some verbals as well."

It is that unwillingness to be knocked down that has characterised Reilly's career. A relatively late starter in the game, he was only persuaded to give it a try at a local amateur club by his best mate at school, who happened to be a mad-keen Hull KR fan.

"I hadn't been too bothered about the game, although I used to watch Huddersfield sometimes and I remember seeing them play Australia on the old ground at Leeds Road. I didn't play until the Under-14s at Mold Green and before I knew it I was in the senior team and scoring lots of tries."

By then, Reilly had left school and was driving a fork-lift truck, but he sensed that there might be a living to be made in a sport where his natural toughness and determination could become powerful assets.

"I was doing so well for Mold Green in the National Conference that I went to Halifax on a three-month trial," he recalls. "They wanted to sign me at the end of the season, but the season was only half-way through."

Reilly's impatience took him back to his home-town club, where he simply invited himself to training. After four or five weeks, the Giants' then coach, Darryl van de Velde, had seen enough to offer him a deal.

That was 10 years ago, which means Reilly is the one Giant on duty this weekend who has experienced all the recent dark times at the club - the ill-fated merger with Sheffield, three wooden spoons and relegation.

"There were times when it looked as though it wasn't going to happen for this club," he says. That makes it all the sweeter when, late in his career, he finally finds himself part of a successful side. "It's brilliant, the change in this club. I really think that by the end of next season we could be challenging at the top of Super League."

Naturally, he hopes to be there with them, but Reilly's contract is up at the end of this season and, at 30, he inevitably wonders what the future holds. It is possible that, if the Giants no longer want him, he might call it a day. "I'm not a player who would want to keep going down and down a level when you can't play in the top division."

Huddersfield have shown that, on their day, they can compete with the best this season. If they are to do that tomorrow, players like Reilly must match opposite numbers as accomplished as the St Helens full-back Paul Wellens.

"He's been exceptional for years," Reilly says. "He seems to be able to stick at that level of play. He's a sound lad as well."

Not that that will stop Reilly trying to rough him up when their paths cross at Twickenham.

"It's a massive game for me," he says. "My mum and dad will both be there, as proud as hell." So, in one sense, will his grandma. When Paul Reilly goes through his pre-match routine, turning up the volume on his beloved rap music and getting ready to wind up the enemy, he will wonder what she would have made of it all.