GIANTS head coach Jon Sharp has welcomed his players back for the official start of pre-season training and declared: "The hard work starts now!"
Although the majority of Sharp's Super League squad have been taking part in an off-season weights and fitness programme for the past month, this is the first week the players have worked together as a group.
And though Sharp has warned his players they face a tough time, the Galpharm chief has been impressed with their level of enthusiasm.
"There was a real buzz about the place yesterday, and the enthusiasm of all the boys is infectious," reported Sharp.
"Even though I made it clear to them that they must prepare themselves for some extremely hard work, they didn't seem fazed by it.
"They just wanted to get cracking as soon as possible.
"And we gave them a real taste of what it's all about straight away.
"After holding introductory meetings in the morning and doing some speed testing at the Leeds Road sports barn, it was off to Roundhay Park to do some hill work.
"It was the coach's way of saying `welcome back, boys!'
"Fortunately, they seemed to take it the right way."
From now until the opening game of Super League XI at Leeds on Sunday, February 12, the players will be in the club six days a week.
The only exception will be during their training camp at the Brown's sports complex in Portugal between January 12 and 19 when they will work for the full seven days!
The players will also report for duty at 6.30am twice a week.
For these early sessions, the players will be split into three groups, taking it in turns to work on martial arts skills, triathlon training and boxing drills.
* Giants chairman Ken Davy is the guest speaker at the Senior Giants meeting in the Galpharm Stadium's Panasonic Suite tomorrow (2.15).
