Huddersfield Giants aim to be the most hard-working side in Super League this season.
That’s the view of Ryan Brierley, who has been handed the scrum-half shirt by coach Rick Stone and intends to repay that faith in spades.
The 24-year-old Brierley, who signed midway through last season from Leigh and has a four-year contract, believes the Giants squad have prepared impeccably and are driven to prove they’re far better than last season’s results suggest.
“We all understand the feeling of what we went through last year and it was a real wake-up call,” he said,
recalling the struggles to win Middle 8s survival. “We kept saying ‘we will be all right’, ‘we will be all right’, but we nearly weren’t!
“It’s proved a real wake-up alarm and I think that’s been evident in the
training we’ve been doing.
“I wasn’t here for pre-season last year, but the boys who were say it’s been much more intense and leagues apart from 12 months ago.
“Rick Stone has brought a great work ethic into the group and if we are not to be the most talented team in the league, we are certainly going to try to be the most hard-working.”
Brierley returned later to pre-season training than most because of his
commitments with Scotland in the Four Nations – he scored a try in the defeat to Australia and played his part from the bench in the 18-18 draw with New Zealand
He added: “I think people will see we are working a lot harder for each other and I think there has been a definite attitude change – there is a realisation we are going to have to work a lot harder to achieve something special.
“We are under no illusions how tough it will be, but we are ready to put the hard work in and guys are ready to go. Every one is looking in good shape from the young guys and up through the squad, no-one is behind the eight ball (fitness wise) and everyone is eager to get cracking.
“I think we are all getting a bit bored with the build-up. We just want to get out there and play.”
Brierley is delighted to be targeted as No7. When he arrived from Leigh he was thrust into the action at full back, but later in the campaign – and in the Middle 8s – he was at scrum half .
“I’ve personally been doing a lot of weights (in the gym) and I’ve put more weight on than last year, so hopefully that will benefit me through the real, tough slog,” he explained.
“As rugby league players I think it benefits you long term (to be that much bigger) and that’s why we work so hard in pre-season – and it was important for me because I missed some of last pre-season at Leigh through injury and didn’t feel the full benefit.
“I thought I might feel a bit jaded coming in after the Nations, but I fitted straight in, and I’ve been really impressed with how all the boys have trained.”
