Experience is supposed to inform you and repeating mistakes should be avoided.

With that in mind, I can only apologise to Huddersfield Giants fans unreservedly.

Time and again I have said I will make no predictions in this column, only to then write round the issue just to sneak in a prediction or two.

Over the years I have found that 95 per cent of the time my predictions of sporting outcomes are wrong, so I can only say to Giants fans that I am sorry I said this was your year to win the Super League play-offs.

That outlandish assertion was quickly followed by a defeat at Wigan Warriors that was quite mind-numbing in its severity.

However, it was not the only surprising outcome in the opening round of play-off matches.

The Catalan Dragons win at Leeds was stunning and thrillingly close, as was Warrington’s win over derby rivals Widnes, but these were winner-takes-all showdowns.

The manner in which Castleford Tigers perished at St Helens bore more relation to the Giants capitulation at the DW Stadium, and it just begs the question does having a second chance take the sting out of the games between the top four clubs?

Now I am sure that both Giants head coach Paul Anderson and his Castleford ‘oppo’ Darryl Powell would refute the claim that their sides backed off in either game, but at 20-odd points down and knowing you have another match in front of you, it could be easy to feel why waste the energy now.

The only problem with this theory is that rugby league is a game hard not to play at full tilt.

For a start there is the old adage that if you back off you get hurt, and secondly can any RL fan claim to have seen a pre-season ‘friendly’ that was not either a pointless ‘touch-and-pass’ charade or conversely a great spectacle but purely because it was anything but friendly.

However, rest assured Giants fans there will be no veiled predictions this week – just enjoy the rest of the season however long it lasts.