Huddersfield Giants star Adam Swift on injury recovery, new signings and ‘Robbo’s Revolution’

Adam Swift got his Huddersfield Giants career off to a flying start last year before he suffered what he described as a ‘soul-destroying’ injury: and he is hungrier than ever to return bigger and better.

The 31-year-old arrived at the John Smith’s Stadium ahead of last season from Hull FC and scored 17 tries in 13 appearances for the Giants.

But unfortunately his season was cut short by injury – with Swift being forced to undergo adductor reconstruction surgery.

“I suffered quite a weird injury,” Swift told Love Rugby League.

“I didn’t think anything of it at first. I thought it would be a couple of weeks but it went from a couple of weeks to eight weeks and two injections later and then still nothing was recovering, so I went for another scan and it was worse than it was eight weeks previously.

“I needed an operation 16 weeks later and that’s where I am today. It’s a bit disappointing but that’s the game.

“It was a bit soul-destroying when it happened. I was in some good form and playing some good stuff, scoring tries is what I get paid to do and I was doing that, so it was a bit of a sour pill to swallow but it is what it is.

“I’m definitely more hungry now going into a season than any other really. I’ve not been injured in a pre-season like this for a long time so, with the squad we’ve got, hopefully it’s going to be a big year for us.”

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Swift has worked tirelessly over the last couple of months on his road to recovery – with the former St Helens man nearing full fitness ahead of the Giants’ pre-season schedule getting underway in January.

“I’m about 95 per cent in now,” said Swift. “I’ve hit all my top speeds, I’ve been filtering into all the contact bits.

“This has been my first week of proper pre-season, I’m still missing a couple of bits so I don’t go over my meterage and stuff like that, I’m still being held back on certain things: but that will build over the next three to four weeks now before the friendlies and then Round One.”

Huddersfield Giants entering new era under Luke Robinson

The Giants are heading into a new era under Luke Robinson, who is preparing for his first full season as a head coach after taking the reins following Ian Watson’s dismissal towards the back end of last season.

“Robbo’s Revolution!” Swift said with a smile when asked about the club’s new era.

“It’s been fantastic, the vibe around training is better, the togetherness in the squad is better, the lads are on board. We’ve got great partnerships with each other and everyone is just enjoying it.

“We train with a smile on our face, we’re enjoying coming to work and that’s what you want to look forward to doing and it’s what we get paid to do: to come in to train and we’re excited to come into training.

“It’s going to be an interesting year, I think it’ll be a good year for us and we just need to back Robbo and the stuff he’s given us and execute it on the field so it’s exciting times.”

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Huddersfield have made six new signings ahead of the new season – with Tom Burgess, Jacob Gagai, Taane Milne and Zac Woolford arriving from the NRL, as well as George King and Liam Sutcliffe from Hull KR and Hull FC respectively.

“We’ve got a good mix of youth and old now,” Swift told Love Rugby League. “I think I’m the third oldest here now, I’m 32 in February! I’m nearly 32 but it’s the best I’ve ever felt apart from the injury.

“We’ve got a good mix of youth and old: and we’ve got some nice talent coming through as well.

“We’ve signed some nice overseas players, Gags (Gagai) has only just turned up but you can already see the talent that he possesses and the potential that he’s got to show on the pitch for Huddersfield fans this year. It’s an exciting squad with a few new signings so we’re ready to go.”

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