Halifax Panthers boss has say on playing full-time clubs
Photo courtesy of Halifax Panthers
Halifax Panthers head coach Simon Grix has had his say on facing full-time clubs in the Championship following their defeat to Leigh.
Grix’s side fell to a 26-16 defeat to full-time Centurions at The Shay, live on Premier Sports.
Adrian Lam’s side are one of two full-time teams within the Championship competition alongside Newcastle Thunder.
James Bell impressed on his Leigh return, having linked back up from St Helens on dual-registration. Nene Macdonald scored his eighth try of the year, while Mark Ioane, Keanan Brand, Tom Amone and Joe Wardle also crossed.
Huddersfield pair Nathan Mason and Jack Ashworth started for Halifax Panthers. Full-back James Woodburn-Hall made his first appearance of the season.
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However, Grix says his side have no excuses following their defeat. Speaking to Premier Sports about the difference in part-time and full-time, he said: “I think on a one-off occasion, they’re not super human. They are beatable of course. But over the course of the season, the full-time advantage does play its part.
“The ability to get up tomorrow and recover; whereas half of our lads will be up and on a building site tomorrow morning. It does catch up on you as the season goes along.
“They get the opportunity to really work on their bodies and they get more minutes on the field as opposed to us part-time lads. It’s no excuse. It is what it is. That’s the competition. We’ve got to sort of bridge the gap in whatever way we can.”
Halifax are now just one win in their opening five Championship games in 2022 so far. They have fallen short to Batley, Widnes, Featherstone and now Leigh, while claiming a win against London Broncos away at home.
Next up, they travel to Workington Town for the rearranged round four fixture on Sunday, March 27.
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Simon Grix previews Workington clash
Speaking about the club’s preparation for their next clash, Grix told Premier Sports: “We get over this one. They do come around really quick so you just have to move on.
“We didn’t want to have to give them a late night tonight, full day of work and training tomorrow, so they’ll have the night off tomorrow night.
“We’ll get a bit of recovery in now and we’ll turn our attention towards Workington.
“It’s an important game. We’ve been close where we’ve come out of it on the wrong side if you like and at the end of the year, if you got points for being close it would be great, but you don’t.
“We need to get some points on the board and back ourselves. There were a lot of positives within all that, but at the end of the day its points on the board that get you up the table and that’s where we want to be.”