HI, it’s Eorl here.

Well, another season and another Mad Monday out of the way.

To be honest, it was a relatively sober affair – although that’s how it started!

This year we decided to take ourselves off to Otley, and because of the way our season had finished at Hull the day before, the initial mood was a little subdued. It wasn’t the way we wanted to bow out of the play-offs.

As a result, it took us a bit of time to get into our stride, and by the time we’d warmed to the cause we were starting to feel a bit emotional, knowing this would be the last time this squad would all be together. It’s always tough having to say ‘good bye’ to your mates.

There were still some lighter moments, of course. The naked run for those who had failed to score a try this season always goes down well.

There was also a special forfeit for those who had collected ‘Helmet of the Month’ awards this year, but to save the embarrassment for those concerned we’ve decided to keep this in-house!

Needless to say, these ‘victims’ all took it the right way, including ‘Helmet of the Year’ Jason Chan.

This was an unofficial award to the player who has made the biggest impact on the Helmet front, with Channy leaving all other opponents trailing in his wake.

Never has an award been so richly deserved, with the likes of Luke Robinson, Keith Mason and Lee Gilmour giving it their best shot to keep within touching distance of the great man, but in the end failing miserably.

There’s no doubt Channy has made a massive impact, both on and off the field, and to say he has been a fantastic addition to the Giants squad is an understatement.

Everyone can see what a great player he is – some of his explosive back-row performances have been a real highlight this year – but he’s also a top bloke, enthusiastic in everything he does and as daft as a brush (hence all the Helmet awards).

So, Jason Chan, I salute you.

Having said that, I genuinely salute all of my teammates from this season, because it’s ended up being a very challenging campaign, but we’ve never once thought about waving the white flag. Even when times have been tough, we’ve always try to give 100% to the Giants cause.

And I think times are going to get even tougher!

Paul Anderson has immediately put down a marker for his new regime by calling us all back in to training yesterday to undergo a variety of physical tests.

We all realise that’s a taste of things to come.

But if that means the coaching staff can get even more out of us in 2013 that’s certainly fine by me.