Huddersfield Giants have arguably produced the shock of the season so far after a 34-16 victory over Wigan Warriors.

In what was a 1st v 14th clash, a Giants side who sacked head coach Luke Robinson just six days ago were given no chance to pick up a result, but a spirited effort from 1-17 defied the odds and earned the club their first victory of the season.

From a history-making referee to injury returns, here are the biggest talking points from the game on what is a day to forget for Matt Peet’s Wigan Warriors.

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Wigan Warriors v Huddersfield Giants talking points

Giants returnees shine:

Who knew that having your first-choice spine playing together would better your performance ten-fold? Luke Robinson can field slightly aggrieved that he gets the sack the week before the club’s spine return and they then put in an almighty performance in their first game back.

The returning Niall Evalds and Adam Clune partnered brilliantly with Tui Lolohea and Zac Woolford, and whilst some moments were rusty, as expected, on the most part they posed a huge threat to the Warriors defence.

Evalds crossed for a first-half try on return, whilst Clune crossed for the match-winner on 63 minutes, but the most important thing for Huddersfield was that every returning player came away from the game unscathed and injury-free.

Worrying Warriors:

Whilst it was one of Huddersfield’s most memorable efforts over recent seasons, this game has to go down as one of the worst under Matt Peet. Wigan were second best in almost every area, and only a few players can hold their heads up after such a dismal display.

The excuse can be made that neither Bevan French nor Jai Field were in the side, however the players in the Wigan side should have more than enough talent to produce a better showing than the one they put out.

With the derby against St Helens next up, one small positive for Wigan will be that both those sides head into that game on the back of a humbling defeat, which will give the club further confidence they can bounce back.

Noah Hodkinson:

After a poor opening 25 minutes from Wigan, Huddersfield can feel hard done to that they were only four points to the good, and they can blame full-back Hodkinson for that after two incredible try-saving efforts.

First, he was able to stop what looked a certain Adam Clune try on his return to the Giants side, before an equally-impressive effort saw him stop Jacob Douglas crossing over in the corner.

The youngster was one of Wigan’s better players on a day to forget, and he will no doubt learn from this experience – as will the rest of the side.

Jones makes history:

What a week it has been for referee Tara Jones, who became the first female to oversee a men’s Super League fixture in the competition’s 30-year history.

Partnering with Chris Kendall who was on video referee duties, the pair had a number of tough calls to make and dealt with them well, including a disallowed try for Liam Farrell, who was deemed offside from Harry Smith’s kick.

The appointment caps off a stellar few days for the former St Helens Women’s player, who picked up her MBE for services to the sport on Tuesday.

Wrench returns:

As well as Evalds and Clune, another returnee, but not through injury, was Connor Wrench, who made his rugby league return after retiring from the sport in August. The centre sealed his return with a second-half try, and also forced the error from Liam Marshall, which then led to the penalty to take the game from a 22-point margin to 24.

Wrench’s last appearance came for Warrington in defeat to Huddersfield, and his time away has certainly worked wonders, and if he keeps his efforts up will be a key man in the Giants’ rebuild this season and beyond.

Shock of the season?

Winless and coach-less Huddersfield going up against top of the table Wigan, 99% of fans expected only one outcome from this game, however the Giants’ victory is undoubtedly one of the biggest shocks of the season so far.

Sky Sports commentators Stuart Pyke and Jon Wells posed the question of whether this game was bigger than York Knights’ opening round victory over Hull KR, given the disparity between the two sides going into the game.