JUST how much higher in Super League can Huddersfield Giants really go?

A fifth-placed finish this season – to help the club reach the play-offs for the first time – was a magnificent achievement.

Under the salary-cap system imposed by the Rugby Football League, coach Jon Sharp’s side has no real right to expect to finish in such a lofty position.

It’s widely acknowledged that eight clubs in Super League spent more money on their squads than the Giants in 2007.

Yet only half of them finished higher up the final League ladder, although it would have been five had Wigan not been docked four points for breaching the salary cap in 2006.

So, in this respect alone, the Giants have had a truly memorable year.

In fact, it’s been their most successful League campaign for over 50 years, which was the last time they finished higher than fifth in the top flight of British Rugby League.

As well as finishing fifth, the Giants secured their record number of League points in a Super League season with 27 (13 wins and a draw from their 27 games in the regular campaign) and finished with a points difference of plus 95 – their best return so far.

Individually, there have been a number of eye-catching achievements, with Stephen Wild dominating proceedings.

Earlier in the year, the coaches’ player of the year and Giants top tryscorer with 16 became the first Huddersfield player for 36 years to represent Great Britain when he played in the one-off Test against France in June.

And at the end of the season he became the first Giants player to be named in the engage Super League Dream Team.

It’s also ended up being a great year for Giants chief Jon Sharp.

After losing the first seven League games of the campaign, Sharp finished the season as one of the contenders for Coach of the Year.

His case has weakened following the Giants’ somewhat controversial exit from the play-offs at Hull seven days ago.

But there was a very strong feeling that had Huddersfield won just one of their play-off fixtures then Sharp would have been virtually nailed-on for the award.

That would have been as much for the way he held his nerve at the start of the season when they were five points adrift at the foot of the table and the fans were calling for his head as the spectacular end-of-season march into the top six.

Clearly, Sharp was helped significantly by the quality of the players around him, with the aforementioned Wild leading the way.

Brad Drew was obviously another key man as the Giants’ remarkable recovery gained momentum.

Such was the impact as Huddersfield secured a new club record seven Super League wins on the trot – and nine overall with the two Challenge Cup triumphs on top – that the inspirational Australian emerged as a candidate for the Man of Steel award.

Unfortunately, his impact wasn’t quite so great towards the end of the year.

But he is still going to be a massive miss next season when he joins Giants teammate Paul Reilly at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

His efforts were recognised by the Flyers Supporters Club, who named him their player of the year for the third time on the trot.

There was another top award for another departing player in Chris Nero, who is moving to Bradford Bulls.

He finished an incredibly consistent year by collecting the Players’ Player of the Year award.

Clearly, therefore, the Giants are losing some big players, with Robbie Paul and Mat Gardner joining Salford and making a quality quintet of departures.

So the key question now is can the Giants do any better in 2008?

It’s clearly going to be a tough ask, given the club’s superb fifth-place finish and the quality of the players that have left.

But it can be argued that the squad has improved.

Star man Drew, at the age of 32, is clearly coming to the end of his career and has been replaced at scrum half by the 23-year-old Luke Robinson, who made the Opta Stats Super League Team of the Year despite former club Salford going down.

Another ex-City Red, 26-year-old Great Britain winger David Hodgson, is in for the 31-year-old Reilly, while Nero’s is taken by current New Zealand Test centre Paul Whatuira and the 31-year-old Paul by 29-year-old New Zealand Warriors hooker George Gatis.

On paper, it does look even more promising.

Only time will tell.