Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown revealed that player power was behind his decision to shake up his team for their Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington.
Brown brought in five new faces and restored skipper Kevin Brown to his old stand-off role for his side's 33-6 defeat at the City of Salford Stadium.
The Giants have slipped down the Super League table after losing seven of their last eight matches, culminating in a 52-6 humiliation at lowly Castleford, but Brown says the changes were prompted by the players themselves.
"It certainly wasn't my idea to freshen things up," he told the post-match news conference. "Basically, the players weren't happy with how we were attacking. They were desperate to change.
"Last week we obviously had an issue with effort. There were some underlying issues and one was that the players didn't want to play our attacking structure any more.
"It was pointless going out and attacking like that because we would have got a poor effort again.
"So we had to try and change it within a week for a Challenge Cup semi-final, which was never going to be easy.
"It's not ideal for anyone but they were more keen to go back to a traditional seven-and-six style of football.
"The reward was we got effort but our attack was poor and poor attack puts your defence under too much pressure."
Brown's shock revelation comes amid speculation that he is set to leave Huddersfield before his contract runs out at the end of the season, when he is due to take up a three-year deal at St Helens.
He said: "Leaving early never crossed my mind, whether you're winning or losing."
Brown's changes looked to have worked when they opened up a 6-0 lead thanks to Scott Moore's ninth-minute try but Warrington gradually got on top and established an 18-6 lead by half-time, courtesy of tries from Garreth Carvell, Ryan Atkins and Joel Monaghan.
The Giants threatened a fightback at the start of the second half but the Wolves defence held firm and they clinched victory with full-back Brett Hodgson's 57th-minute try as they set up a Wembley showdown with Leeds.
"I thought Huddersfield played well," said Warrington's former Giants coach Tony Smith. "They came out firing and made us work hard.
"I thought we controlled things once we got into the game but they were never far off our tail.
"My boys were determined today. I thought our forwards were terrific and commitment to our defence was awesome."
Warrington, who were hot favourites to secure a third Wembley appearance in four years, were largely indebted to two 34-year-olds for their victory.
Hodgson, who captained Huddersfield in their 2009 Wembley defeat by the Wolves, was immaculate in defence and contributed 17 points in a man-of-the-match display, while stand-off Lee Briers tormented the Giants with an aerial bombardment which helped produce two of their five tries.
Smith had opted for experience by recalling Briers and fellow veteran Paul Wood at the expense of youngsters Gareth O'Brien, who had played in the club's 12 previous matches including all three rounds of the Cup, and Mike Cooper.
"It was a very difficult decision because both have been playing well for us," Smith said.
"Some days you get it right and some days you get it wrong. We had a very experienced team out there and I think that helped us. There was a real calmness before the game.
"Brett Hodgson's a great general. He showed a lot of composure and was mistake-free at the back.
"He's wily old thing. He might not be the fastest or biggest but he's one of the smartest and he's tough. I'm delighted for him."
