AT the end of this season, we could be looking back at last weekend’s defeat to Warrington Wolves as being one of the defining moments of our year.
It was obviously disappointing not to win the contest, particularly as there were times during the game when we felt we were getting the better of them .
But we all know a loss at this stage is hardly the end of the world. We all know from our own bitter recent experience that it’s not how you start a season, it’s how you finish it.
And, judging by the way it’s gone so far at the Giants, we’re confident we can produce a big finish this time around.
Once again, we went into a Super League XVII fixture lacking the services of a number of senior players, and so nearly made it three wins out of three – despite being nowhere near our best right now.
We’re still learning to play under our new system, while the youngsters who’ve stepped up are getting better all the time.
They will have learned a lot from our narrow win at Wigan, learned a bit more from the big victory over Widnes and continued that learning process in the narrow defeat to Warrington.
And on each occasion, the youngsters will have learned different things and how to handle different situations – with the fiery encounter against the Wolves a prime example.
Bob Fairbank (pictured) and Joe Wardle, in particular, were on the receiving end of a few high shots and suspect challenges.
But they showed great character in the face of this ‘pressure’ and that will definitely stand them in good stead further down the line.
They showed an incredible amount of maturity that day, and it was another clear indication that they have what it takes to compete effectively at this level.
That’s just one example of why we should all take a great deal of encouragement from what went on the other night.
There were a lot of other things that have given us great hope, too, even in defeat.
As I said, it was crystal clear to us all what went wrong, and we all know they are things we can easily fix up. Once we do, we know how exciting it will be!