RELIEVED Brad Drew is hoping his injury woes are behind him and he can begin to stamp his mark on the Giants for a second time.
The popular 34-year-old marked his comeback from pre-season knee surgery by playing the full 80 minutes in his side’s 54-28 Reserve Team triumph over Castleford.
It was Drew’s first game since his final Super League fixture for Wakefield last September.
It was also his second debut in the claret and gold, with Drew having originally played for the Giants from 2005 to 2007.
And having emerged from this weekend’s clash unscathed, Drew is hoping he can go on and have a second successful spell at the Galpharm.
“It’s great to be back, and I hope I can now start to look forward,” said Drew.
“There were times during my rehab that I feared I may never get back on the field again. I kept on taking two steps forward and then one step back.
“But getting through the 80 minutes was another huge step and now I’m going to push myself even further in training.
“That will obviously depend on how the knee reacts over the next couple of days.
“I knew there would be a bit of pain after the game, and there was, but hopefully I’ll return to training on Wednesday and start to press for first-team selection.”
Next up for the Giants’ senior side is Sunday’s Carnegie Challenge Cup fourth-round home tie against Hull KR.
And Drew is not wanting to predict whether he’ll play in that game at this stage.
“It would be good to be included, but at the moment I’m just glad to have got this game out of the way,” he added.
