Danny Brough's New Year’s resolution is to make sure he’s not sulking at the end of next season.
But the Giants captain admits his club has to claim a major piece of silverware to make that happen!
Although Huddersfield secured another third-place finish at the end of the 2015 campaign, the Giants still came up empty-handed.
They missed out on securing a first Super League Grand Final appearance at Old Trafford with a 32-8 play-off semi-final defeat at Wigan Warriors and earlier in the year bowed out of the Challenge Cup at the sixth-round stage with a heavy 48-16 defeat at treble-winning Leeds Rhinos.
The nature of those defeats left a nasty taste in Brough’s mouth.
And the 32-year-old goalkicking half-back knows it’s only going to be the experience of lifting either the Super League trophy or Challenge Cup that’ll help avoid a repeat at the end of 2016 - which is something he knows can be achieved.
“I think most people know I’m a bad loser. I absolutely hate it,” said Brough.
“And it took a lot to get last season’s semi-final play-off defeat out of my system. To be honest, I think some of that disappointment is still there.
“The only way to make sure I don’t experience this feeling again is obviously for us to win something this year, and I can promise you I’ll again be doing everything I possibly can to make that happen.
“There’s no question we’ve got the squad capable of going one step further and lifting a major trophy.
“Our new signings, Ryan Hinchcliffe and Sam Rapira, will definitely help to give us an extra edge when it comes to the bigger games. Their experience at the very highest level in the Australian NRL could be massive for us.
“They’re already having a big influence in pre-season training, and I’m really looking forward to playing alongside them.
“Everyone is working incredibly hard and the new season can’t come around quickly enough. That’s when I know I’ll get all my 2015 disappointment out of my system.”
Brough isn’t expected to feature in the Giants’ opening pre-season trial clash against Championship club Halifax at The Shay next Sunday (January 10), with the plan to save the senior players for the trip to Hull KR for David Hodgson’s testimonial match seven days later and the home test against Catalans Dragons on Saturday, January 23.
But even though the Scotland skipper is pencilled in to have next Sunday off, he’s looking forward to seeing the Giants young guns show what they can do.
“We’ve got some really talented young players at the club, and I’m enjoying working with them,” added Brough.
“I know how much they’ll be looking forward to testing themselves against Halifax, and there’s no reason at all why they won’t all give a very good account of themselves.”
