Huddersfield Giants winger Darnell McIntosh believes 2018 will be a year to remember for Claret and Gold fans.
The 20-year-old has been fine-tuning his skills in pre-season and the local lad is raring to go for the Hull FC opener at the KCom Stadium tonight - if selected.
“We’re raring to go,” he said.
“I’m confident that we can go in to this game and get the right result.
“This season we want to focus on starting off big and everyone’s drive is towards the first game.
“There’s a lot of buzz around the place and we’re all looking forward to seeing where we can go from there.
“And I know we can go as far as we want to. If we fall we’re our own worst enemy.
“If we get our head down and have a solid first six weeks I reckon towards the back end we’ve put in so much good work in pre-season that it’ll show.
“I think we just need to believe in ourselves. We’ve talked about belief and we can achieve anything we want to, but we’ll take it game by game and it’ll take care of itself.”
Huddersfield Giants Press Day - Darnell McIntosh 22/01/18 (Pic by Dave Howarth)
After bursting onto the scene in 2017, scoring 13 tries in 24 appearances,
McIntosh is going for more of the same as he prepares for the first fixture on the 2018 calendar.
Speaking of his own pre-season along with his personal aims and the atmosphere around the camp, he added: Apart from my weight, I haven’t changed anything in my pre-season routine.
“I felt like I’ve put on a bit more size so I can go into contact a bit more. I’ve kept my speed and focussed on my footwork, if anything my skill has improved.
“I don’t think we can ever stop there. I work on game sense, and that will come with time.
“Around the place there’s a good spirit. We all get on with each other and no-one really rubs anyone up the wrong way too much.
“Everyone respects each other, and I think that will show this season on the field.
“I just want to make a name for myself in the team and put a stamp on it. I feel like I’ve got a lot to give and hopefully I can get the opportunity to prove that.”