Apart from Brett Ferres (bicep) and Kyle Wood (foot), did everyone else return from Catalans Dragons fit and healthy?
Pretty much.
Because it’s such a draining trip, the boys didn’t come back into training until yesterday.
As a result, the first day back was a re-set day in regards to the players getting back moving again and building some energy.
That means everyone should be back to where they need to be by tomorrow and we can really make sure we’re as well prepared as we possible can be to host Wakefield on Sunday.
You obviously missed the Catalans trip because of a close family illness. But did you still manage to watch the game?
Yes, I did.
But, to be honest, the wife had to take my bottle of coke off me to make sure there were no holes in the wall and she didn’t end up getting soaked!
That was certainly very close to happening, because of how frustrating I found the whole game. Put it this way, I’d rather be a player or a coach than a fan, as you can have a direct influence on a game if you are.
Fortunately, I knew the players and coaching staff knew exactly what was required. They’re a really good group and I always had complete confidence in what they were doing.
During their time out there, I had a couple of reports back from (assistant coaches) Kieron Purtill and Chris Thorman, who told me how everyone contributed to the success of the trip.
A lot went on during the game, with injuries and the need to move people around and manage things differently as a result.
There was a lot for Kieron and Chris to do throughout this match, and I take my hat off to them for what they did.
In the scheme of things, how massive was this latest success?
It’s another hugely significant win for us, particularly when you consider only us and Leeds have won out in Perpignan during the regular season.
And given the obstacles that are placed in your way when you go down there, it’s not that big a surprise that so many sides slip up.
But, fortunately, we were able to secure a scrappy win regardless of the fact it’s ‘planes, trains and automobiles’ to get there.
That’s something the RFL really needs to look at, because it’s disgraceful that a journey that should take just a couple of hours takes almost a full day. If that happened with a package holiday you’d say ‘I’m not doing that!’
It really is about time a different means was found to get people to Perpignan an awful lot quicker.
The win must also have done wonders for the confidence of the group?
Yes it has, especially when you think of the adversity everyone had to face.
We lost two players to injury in the first half (Ferres and Wood), meaning we had to work with a two-man rotation, and we were down to 12 men for 10 minutes when Danny Brough was sin-binned.
That meant everyone had to dig deep and work harder for each other, which is exactly what they did.
But the rewards for that were significant, because we know that if we beat Wakefield this weekend, one of our pre-season targets – securing a top-four finish – has been met.
And that will add to our confidence ahead of the start of the Super 8s.
Defensively, we’ve been pretty consistent all year, and we’re now starting to find our feet with the ball as well.
That suggests we’re timing things nicely for the Super 8s, and we’re certainly determined to make sure we keep on building in form with a very strong performance against Wakefield.
Finally, Daniel Smith made a positive debut at Catalans following his arrival from Wakefield at the start of last week. How well do you feel he’s fitting in at the Giants?
He’s doing very well.
After spending his time at Wakefield this year, he wanted to come to us and win, and that’s exactly what he did in less than a week here.
When he signed for us, he hadn’t tasted victory since round two!
So you can imagine how pleased he’s been feeling this week.
In that game at Catalans I thought he contributed some things that proved his worth to us straight away.
