11 Days till Super League! Wearing the number 11 this year is Tom Symonds. After transferring towards the end of the 2016 season, Tom had some great games and showed big potential before unfortunately missing the majority of the 2017 season to injury. In 2018 he'll return to the pitch, hopefully for a full season in the claret and gold, and we caught up with him to hear about his ambitions for the coming year
Hi Tom. The team's 2 months into preseason now, how have things been going?
Preseason is progressing quite well & there's a great vibe amongst the group. The work ethic has been strong which is important during this time, and many of our young players in particular have been impressive.
Last year was an inconsistent one for the Giants, what are the club hoping to achieve in 2018?
Improving our position from 2017 is a good start, and to do that we will need to start the season better. If we continue to train well and focus on improving each day, I'm confident we will surprise a few people.
After a promising set of games the previous year, you missed most of 2017 to injury. How's the recovery coming and what are your personal goals for 2018?
I really enjoyed the start of my Giants career in 2016 so it was very difficult not being able contribute on the pitch last year. I have just tried to focus on the things that I am able to control such as my dedication to rehab & helping build our team culture. My recovery is coming along well and I'm confident I can make a difference to our team when I return to the field. My biggest personal goal is for us to be playing in the big games come season end!
The conditioning team was going through a few changes this time last year, and the club found themselves dealing with injuries throughout 2017. Do you think having a more settled backroom team will help the club going forward?
Unfortunately injuries hit us hard last season and that made things quite difficult. Just like any team though, if we can manage to reduce this through our training, along with getting some luck, it should help our performances.
If you had to sum up your expectations for our 2018 season in 3 words, what would you say?
Improvement, enjoyment, success