PRE-SEASON training has gone exactly according to plan.

That’s the view of head coach Nathan Brown as his hard-working Giants get ready for a well-earned Christmas break.

Brown’s Super League squad break up for the festive period in the middle of next week and will resume at the start of the new year ahead of the opening pre-season trial clash at Castleford Tigers on Friday, January 13.

By that stage the Giants will have had nine weeks of hard work under their belts.

And Brown feels that if his players continue to knuckle down as well as they have done so far, then the start of Super League XVII could prove very exciting.

“For the past six weeks, the boys have been working five or six days a week, and working very hard,” said Brown.

“The quality has also been there all the time, which is something that fills us with a lot of optimism.