CARETAKER Giants coach Paul Anderson believes chairman Ken Davy has thrown down the gauntlet to the players to make 2009 the club’s best Super League season ever!

Davy announced at half-time during last Saturday’s home clash against Catalans Dragons that fans can pay as little as £80 for a season-ticket for Super League XIV.

It was a smart move by the Giants owner, who made the announcement in front of more than 12,000 fans who had taken advantage of free admission on the night.

It’s a move that already appears to have paid off, with club officials reporting the initial response to the deals on offer have been nothing short of incredible. So far, over 40% of those tickets snapped up have been to new supporters.

That suggests the Giants should easily achieve record season-tickets and could close in on an average crowd of 10,000.

And Anderson, who next season will be the assistant to new head coach Nathan Brown, knows it would then be up to the players to match the efforts of the chairman and make sure the fans receive real value for money.

“I think that in atrocious conditions, for 12,000 people to turn out last Saturday and for the crowd to be predominantly full of Giants fans, just shows the amount of people that do follow the club from within the town,” he said.

“The gesture from the chairman and the announcement he made with regards to the season-ticket offer stirred some excitement from within the town and also around the club.

“People turned out to hear what Ken Davy had to say and they appreciated what he announced.

“I think the supporters saw a team that has got some potential in it, and hopefully now the players can kick on.

“Ken’s announcement has certainly made it even more important for the squad to match his efforts on the season-ticket front.

“But I’m sure that if we get the support we had on Saturday night regularly for 2009 it will all bode very well for the future on every front.”

Because the new deals are available until November 22 and with many existing season-ticket holders on holiday, club officials were not expecting an avalanche of demand in week one.

But Giants marketing manager James Brammer has still been overwhelmed by the initial response.

“We’ve been blown away with the interest in the 2009 Giants Revolution season tickets and are delighted with the take up so far,” he said.

“Forty-one per cent of those sold are brand new purchasers and this is a really positive indicator after just five days of sales.”

Season-tickets priced at £80 are on offer to existing Giants season-ticket holders and Huddersfield Town centenary season-ticket holders, with concession tickets costing £65.

New season-ticket holders can secure their 2009 ticket for just £95 for adults or £75 for concessions.

Once again all Primary School tickets are free, while the Secondary School junior ticket (which include all home and away engage Super League fixtures) is just £35.

Not only that, the season ticket for 2009 also includes a free Carnegie Challenge Cup fourth-round adult ticket (home or away) and a free ticket for three consecutive rounds of the Challenge Cup for juniors (home and away).

On top of that, a season-ticket will also guarantee a half-price Magic Weekend ticket for next year’s event to be staged in Edinburgh in May.

Tickets can be bought from the Galpharm Stadium ticket office from Monday to Friday (9.00-5.00) and Saturday (9.00-Noon).

The ticket hotline is 0870 44 44 552 and fans can now buy online at www.giantsrl.com.

The Galpharm Stadium ticket office is also open tomorrow from 11.00 ahead of the Giants’ clash against St Helens (3.00), the club’s final home Super League game of the season.

But note the ticket office will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday.