HARD-WORKING Giants physio Nathan Mill has revealed it’s been business as usual this week – despite the Super League squad having been given a break between Christmas and the New Year.

The 28-year-old was away from the Galpharm Stadium on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but was back in Huddersfield with rehabilitation chief Greg Brown first thing Monday morning.

But neither Mill nor Brown is complaining about that.

In fact, the enthusiastic duo couldn’t be happier about continuing to oversee the recovery from operations of England stars Eorl Crabtree, Shaun Lunt and Luke Robinson.

Crabtree (elbow), Lunt (hernia) and Robinson (shoulder and elbow) all went under the knife as soon as they returned home from Four Nations duty in Australia and New Zealand, and rehabilitation sessions throughout this week are a top priority.

“It’s crucial they do their rehab, because a delay now would put them even further behind the rest of the boys,” said former Manchester University graduate Mill, who previously worked at fellow Super League side St Helens and Leeds Carnegie Rugby Union club.

“That obviously means GB (Brown) and myself are working as normal this week, but it simply has to be done.

“I don’t think the missus is all that thrilled about this and some of the hours I put in generally!

“But it’s just the nature of the beast, and I do feel I’m lucky to have such a fantastic job.

“I’m lucky to be working with such a brilliant bunch of people, and the pride you feel when you see one of the players you’ve been treating make a full recovery and make a successful return to action is amazing.

“Yes, it can be hard work – GB and myself work some serious hours – but it certainly beats most jobs out there. Even though I’ve been working over Christmas I’ve no real intention of swapping places with anyone.”

And Mill is feeling even more upbeat because of the progress the injured players are making.

“For starters, it’s a bit more relaxed than it was at this time last year,” he added.

“Back then, we had Danny Kirmond, David Fa’alogo, Keith Mason, Keal Carlile, Stephen Wild and Brad Drew all coming in, and several of those were long-term problems.

“This time, it’s just the three England boys, and they’re all making really good progress. Eorl and Lunty should be back with the full squad at the start of the New Year, and Robbo is now working flat-out to make sure he misses as few games as possible.

“And this pretty healthy picture reflects the general shape of the squad as a whole.

“The boys were in extremely good nick when Bumper (former head conditioner Mark Andrews) was in charge, but Watto (new fitness chief Paul Watson) has definitely upped the levels. They’re now even better, both physically and mentally.

“There’s no doubt they’ll start 2011 in better condition than ever, and I know this Christmas break won’t affect that.

“Yes, they have been given over a week off to reward their efforts in pre-season up to now, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been given the licence to spend all that time sitting on their backsides doing absolutely nothing.

“Every player has been given a programme for over the Christmas period and they’ll all be screened the minute they get back to make sure they’ve been putting in the work.

“They know they’ll be found out if they’ve not been putting in the work, and they know what the consequences are for that!

“But this is such a professional group we’ve got no real fears over that. They’re an absolute privilege to be around.”