Huddersfield’s Hugo Salabio eager to show his talent as he heads home

HUGO Salabio knows Huddersfield’s travelling contingent will be a bit larger than normal as he faces his mates.

For the Frenchman’s mother Christine will be cheering him on, along with pals from his hometown of Saint-Martin-de-Crau.

Hugo Salabio is ready for a huge occasion as Huddersfield head to Catalans Dragons for their Challenge Cup quarter finalSWPIX.COM

And Salabio is likely to come up against a few familiar faces in Catalans stars Arthur Mourgue, Cesar Rouge and Mathieu Laguerre.

Salabio said: “It will be a special game for me and the town – some people are coming from there, even though it’s two-and-a-half hours away near Marseille and rugby league isn’t the main thing.

“And my mum will be there. When I learned I was in the squad, I asked her, ‘What are you doing at the weekend?’ She said she was free, so she’s going along with my best friend.

“It’ll be good to play in Perpignan too as all my rugby league schooling was there – and I played alongside Cesar, Arthur and Mathieu. I speak to him regularly.”

Forward Salabio, 23, is making a name for himself at Huddersfield after coming through at Catalans, for whom he only made one senior appearance.

And he revealed how that match against Wigan in 2022 came out of the blue, adding: “I’d only ever played in the reserves.

“I never had a squad number but after our reserve season, I’d been on holiday for about two months when the Dragons called me at the last minute and asked, ‘Can you play?’

“I said, ‘Yeah but I’m still on holiday.’ Playing in that game was a bit weird.

“So today’s game is special for me as I never had a chance in the main squad. I can show what I can do as a player against them.”