It seems like an age since the mighty Giants were dumped out of the playoffs, and I have spent many cold months salivating at the prospect of the season ahead.  Last year the boys did good, finishing 3rd in the league and losing (controversially) to Warrington Wolves in the Challenge Cup final.  In the meantime, the squad is stronger than before, with coach Nathan Brown making some very astute signings.

So, on Friday, the Giants play their first SL game of the season against our neighbours the Bradford Bulls.  The Bulls underachieved last year and have also strengthened, but I reckon we can give them a good game and we look to edge it on paper.  In fact, the Giants team maybe full of great individual players, but combined are more than the sum of their parts.

A bit like the Slightly Different team.  That is why our web solutions work so well, you have the combined skills and knowledge of all of us at your disposal.  Why would you want to go anywhere else for web design?

If you have want to watch the greatest game on earth, played at the spiritual home of Rugby League, it’s on Sky on Friday evening.  If you want the best in web design and development, come see us.

Eorl Crabtree, he loves the taste of armpit.

Being the token Northerner in the office, I feel I have to keep in touch with my roots.

Originally I hail from Huddersfield, the Birthplace, in 1895, of the mighty sport known as Rugby League.  Around these parts it’s all Rugby Union (or Yawnion) as us ‘Leaguers’ like to call it,  (Actually, I played Union for a while and really enjoyed it), so I get my weekly fix on the radio or on SKY and keep up to date with my fave team, the Huddersfield Giants.

The Giants haven’t had an easy time, they lost two generations of fans when they went through a very difficult patch in the 80s and 90s.  At one point they could barely field a team and needed spectators to come on the pitch to make up the numbers.

Last year, we finished third from bottom in the Super League.  We were the whipping boys and no one had us pegged for success.

Oh, how things have changed this year!!

A new coach, Nathan Brown, took over this season and coupled with the very astute signing of Brett Hodgson (who many see as the best full back in Super League, and the finest signing by any club this year) we have turned things around.  We currently sit third in the league with a handful of games to go, so we are guaranteed a play off place.  We have the best defence in the league with fewer points conceded than any other team.  And to cap it all we beat the mighty St. Helens in the Challenge Cup Semi Final on Saturday.  This is really something special, Saints are the current cup holders and the league leaders.  No one thought we would beat them, all the pundits had written us off before we started.

It was billed as the ‘best defence against the best offence’.  On the day we had both.  We smashed them in attack, scoring 5 tries to their 3.  Also our defence was nothing short of heroic.  It was an amazing display.

The thing is, as Nathan Brown readily acknowledges, the team isn’t full of superstars, they are sometimes really dumb and make too many mistakes.

The difference is that they are a team.  They work for each other, and they work very hard.  You can see it on their faces, the desire to be there for one another is what is different about them.

That’s the thing about being successful, it’s not about one person being really good.  It’s about belief and desire.  It’s about being part of the team.

I feel the same way about Slightly Different.  We are all good at what we do as individuals, but it is the way we work together that makes the difference.

If you want to find out what kind of difference that can make for your team, contact our team.

P.S.  The Giants already have the biggest pack in Super League and the world’s largest Rugby league Player, Eorl Crabtree (nephew of Big Daddy), but next year we have an absolute monster coming to play.  He’s a beast, who was in the world cup winning New Zealand team last year.  Check him out:

David Fa'alogo - a Huddersfield Player for the 2010 season

And if anyone wants to see the masterclass in defence that was the Semi Final, check it out on the BBC website.