You returned to winning ways with victory over Castleford Tigers last weekend, but now face a weekend off. Is that the last thing the boys need right now in terms of trying to build some momentum for your final Super League XVIII title push?
Judging by the events of Sunday, it’s probably what we do need!
Obviously, we’d have preferred to be playing this weekend in the semi-final of the Challenge Cup, but that wasn’t to be.
So we’ve got to make sure we make the most of this extra preparation time for Super League we’ve been given.
It gives us the chance to reinforce some things and re-focus on getting the little things right that we know we have to do well in order to achieve our goal of finishing top of the table. It’s clear there’s a lot of work to do in that particular area.
Straight after the Castleford game , it wasn’t a case of ‘see you tomorrow, enjoy your break and see you next week’.
It’s been a normal week of training, and a week that’ll be good for us in terms of practice.
Yes, we’ll have the weekend off, but that’s as far as it goes.
Everything is geared up to making sure we’re as prepared as well as we possibly can be for our next game at home to Salford City Reds next Sunday.
And how are the boys, fitness-wise, after the Castleford game?
There were the normal bumps and bruises, but nothing major to worry about.
But there were one or two badly bruised egos after we’d finished with them in the post-match review!
I said straight after the win over Castleford that I thought our second-half performance was ‘disgraceful ’, and that was re-emphasised to the squad on Monday.
The initial response to our Challenge Cup defeat at Warrington the week before was exactly what we’d hoped. You’ve got to be fairly happy when you’re leading 36-4 at half-time.
But to then come up with what they did after the interval was totally unacceptable.
No-one is prepared to tolerate a repeat of that.
For this stage of the season, would you say the overall health of the squad is good?
Yes, I would.
As everyone knows, injuries are part and parcel of our game, and it’s very rare to be able to pick from a fully-fit squad.
A lot of people have been saying how fortunate we’ve been on the injury-front this season and we’ve not suffered as badly as other clubs.
But it shouldn’t be forgotten that we’ve been without two of our most experienced forwards for much of the season.
Jason Chan has played only a handful of games because of a knee and bicep injury, while Stuart Fielden has been sidelined for far longer than anyone had anticipated following knee surgery. The infection he picked up after his operation was a lot nastier than was initially feared.
On top of that, Michael Lawrence has also had an injury-hit year, while it’s taken Ukuma Ta’ai over half-a-season to get his fitness up to scratch after the delays in getting his work permit processed.
But all four examples are, to be honest, issues that have been out of our control. The injuries that have been suffered have been freak, and no-one can ever legislate for red tape!
And, again, I think it’s only right to praise our medical staff for keeping the players in such excellent physical shape.
Our physios, Dave O’Sullivan, Darragh Sheehy and Jess Marshall, club doctor Amit Pannu, conditioner Greg Brown and rehab conditioner Matt Green have been brilliant for the club. The players may take all the credit, but without such a great medical team in the background, there’s no way they can be such effective Super League players.
Dave and Darragh arrived at the club for the start of this season, and I’d have to say they’re two of the best signings we’ve made.
We were always confident we’d got hold of the right men, because they’d come to us with big reputations. We were right.
The Giants are, of course, top of Super League as a result of Wigan’s failure to beat St Helens at Langtree Park the other night. Did you enjoy the game?
Yes, it was a good one, wasn’t it?
I wasn’t really thinking too much about the fact we’d be top if Saints won – it’s where we finish after the final five rounds of the regular season that concerns me.
I just sat down to watch what I always thought would be a good game, and that’s exactly what it was.
Saints played with a lot of purpose, got straight into the faces of Wigan and finished up getting the result their efforts deserved.
Obviously, it was a good result for us, but because there’s still a lot of water still to flow under the bridge it certainly wasn’t a cause for mass celebration!
And do you intend watching the Wigan-London, Hull-Warrington semi-finals this weekend?
Don’t know yet.
Taking a complete break from the rugby league may do me a power of good.
Like players, coaches need to re-charge their batteries when they get the chance, and a weekend break could do a power of good.
We’re about to embark on a five-match Super League programme that will result in us lifting the League Leaders Shield if we win all five.
To start this mini season feeling fresh and with a new spring in all our steps could make all the difference in the world.
Having said that, I’m still very interested in the two Cup games, because they involve our two title rivals in Wigan and Warrington.
So, if I do end up watching, my main hope is that we see two very physical encounters with the players knocking lumps out of each other!
I obviously don’t want to see any player suffering a serious injury. I’d never wish that on any opponent.
But if the ties do prove to be physically-draining affairs, that’ll suit me fine.
However, a the end of the day, it’s all about us and what happens to Wigan and Warrington is out of our control.
Between now and the end of the season, it’s all about us.
As I said, if we win our last five games of the regular season we’ll be minor premiers, and there’s nothing anyone can do about that.