Haard-working Rick Stone has admitted he’s been just as busy away from the Giants training ground as he has on it.
The Huddersfield head coach has this week been putting his players through their paces in the first week of pre-season training ahead of Super League XXII next February.
Joining Stone in having their first pre-season with the Giants are new signings Paul Clough and Lee Gaskell, who have been snapped up from Bradford Bulls, as well as Ryan Brierley, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Gene Ormsby and Tom Symonds, who arrived at the John Smith’s Stadium during the 2016 top-flight campaign.
But Stone is still looking at bringing in more new blood before the new year.
“So far, we obviously haven’t been able to report too much on the recruitment front,” said Stone.
“But negotiations have been going on all the time behind the scenes and hopefully these will come to fruition at some stage.
“To be honest, in the time I’ve been here (he took over at the Giants from former head coach Paul Anderson in July) I’ve found there’s not as much movement of players in Super League as there is in the Australian NRL. I’m getting to understand that’s how it works over here a little bit more.
“We have managed to move a few things around and that’s a process that’s on-going. We certainly haven’t ruled anything out at this stage.”
Having now announced the arrival of Bradford duo Clough and Gaskell, the Giants are expected to follow it up at some stage with the confirmation that a third Bulls star, Dale Ferguson, will be returning to the Giants for a second spell after three outstanding displays for Scotland in their recent Four Nations campaign.
And rumours that Newcastle Knights full-back Jake Mamo is still on the Giants radar refuse to go away.
