IT had always been my intention to have a day off on Bank Holiday Monday to watch Town play Mansfield in the play-off final in Cardiff.

But in light of events at the McAlpine Stadium the day before, I'm afraid all my plans for an enjoyable day out in Wales were immediately knocked on the head!

After the way the team had performed, or rather hadn't performed, against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats the only place I needed to be first thing on Monday morning was back in my office.

So while many others at the stadium were setting off to Cardiff, myself and my coaching staff were locked away going through the tape of Sunday's game and reviewing the week's training to fathom out what exactly what went wrong.

We think we've pinpointed quite a few key areas, although the acid test will obviously come on Sunday when we step back out onto the field to take on Salford.

All the boys were in early on Tuesday morning and we had a really constructive meeting when everybody was allowed to get things off their chest.

It was decided across the board that a line would be drawn under the Wakefield match and we would move on to Salford.

And I have to say I was blown away by the attitude of the entire squad to everything that had taken place.

The total commitment, endeavour, professionalism and effort of all the players in the training sessions that have immediately followed have been fantastic.

They all know they allowed the excellent standards they have been setting slip away dramatically.

Up until last weekend, I had been delighted with the form we had been showing throughout our Super League campaign and it was no real fluke that we found ourselves lying fifth in the table.

The praise the players had been receiving for their efforts had been fully justified, and it is very possible this was one of the many factors which contributed to the defeat.

I really do feel that a multitude of sins all came together at once to produce this below-par performance, but there's no question all the positive publicity we've been receiving meant we took one eye off the ball.

For many of our players, they have never enjoyed such upbeat press and some of them haven't learned how to react to it.

I'm sure that in time it will come.

Sunday's defeat really did hit us hard because the expectancy levels are now so much higher.

There's no question that the game against Wakefield, who to be fair did play extremely well, has given us a real kick up the backside.

I'll be very interested to see how they respond at The Willows this weekend.

I WAS absolutely chuffed to bits for Jacko and the boys that Town gained promotion at Cardiff.

I'm sure everyone is now well aware how well Peter and myself get on, and how we do genuinely share in each other's successes.

And I have to say that what he has achieved in the time he has been here is nothing short of remarkable.

He's had to rely so much on the young players at the club that have come through the Town Academy system, and none of them has let him down.

Many of them were in action in the play-off final, and watching the highlights of the game it was typical of them that they didn't appear at all fazed by the big occasion.

In fact, it seemed to bring the best out of them.

I'm sure that one man who will have been particularly proud to have seen them playing so well on such a big stage is Academy director Gerry Murphy.

Gerry's a real character and we always share a bit of banter about rugby league.

He's a genuinely big fan of our game and loves his Friday night Super League matches on Sky TV.

You can tell from listening to him that he loves the sport and knows a fair bit about it.

But it's also crystal clear he knows a thing or two about football, too, because the results speak for themselves.

And, finally, I couldn't finish without saying how delighted I am for our chairman and Town owner Ken Davy.

What he has done for professional sport in this town is incredible, and I hope it's not too long before he has a day like Monday with the Giants.