Jermaine McGillvary has revealed Simon Woolford punishes players for not celebrating tries hard enough.
The Giants have enjoyed an incredible turnaround under their new head coach, with last week’s victory over Wakefield seeing them finish the regular season in fifth place.
According to the England winger, part of the success has been the side’s work ethic and commitment to the cause, something McGillvary believes has been instilled by the Australian.
One of his instructions to the Huddersfield players has been to celebrate good work on the field, and to do it quickly, because the last person to join the celebrations gets a forfeit.
McGillvary hasn’t had to worry too much about the threat of feeling Woolford’s wrath in the last few weeks, having scored back-to-back hat-tricks. But despite that, he refused to reveal the consequences of being the last to celebrate.
“When you do something good you celebrate it,” McGillvary said.
“The boys have bought into it. After weeks and weeks we celebrate them even more and we try getting there. Nobody wants to be the last in there because there’s a little forfeit but it’s good. It keeps the morale high and people are enjoying it.
“I’m not sure if Simon wants to tell you but I’m not going to say anything.”
McGillvary’s stunning return to try-scoring form has coincided with the return of Giants centre Leroy Cudjoe, who has formed a daunting partnership with the England winger over several years.
Some have criticised the Giants for not providing the 30-year-old with enough service over the last few seasons, but McGillvary now believes he’s getting the ammunition he needs
“I’d say that in good ball,” was his response when asked if he was frustrated with a lack of service.
“But since I’ve come through the reason I originally got picked and done so well in my career is what I do in the backfield.
“It’s not for the tries I score because I’m not the fastest winger and I never will be. I like to think within the 10, 20-metre line in good ball I’m decent but I need that service and I’m not going to create stuff on my own. Most of my tries are off good team efforts. I’m really happy to have Leroy back and in form and it’s good for me and rewards some of the work I do at the back when people supply me and I score tries.
“I’m not no flash winger, you won’t see me getting the ball and scoring a 100 metre try or swatting people off. It’s always good to have a creative centre inside of me. At England it’s usually Kallum (Watkins) and at the Giants over the past 10 years, it’s been Leroy. It makes my job a lot easier, I’m a good finisher, but I’m not a speed demon or anything like that. The last two weeks I’ve scored hat-tricks but it’s not often off of my good work it’s normally off people’s hard work, middles hitting the right lines and Leroy putting me over.”
