Simon Grix proud after valiant Halifax make St Helens work for Cup win

Drew Darbyshire
Simon Grix Halifax Panthers SWpix

Photo: Ed Sykes/SWpix

A proud Halifax coach Simon Grix said his side could leave The Shay with their heads held high after making world champions St Helens work for a 26-6 victory.

The part-time Panthers put in a courageous performance as they went down to a 26-6 defeat to Super League champions St Helens in the Challenge Cup sixth round in front of almost 4,693 fans at The Shay.

Speaking to Viaplay Sports after the game, Grix said: “We certainly left with our heads held high and proud, which is something we wanted before the game.

“We didn’t get that many opportunities and when you get them against Saints you better take them. I thought we probably left a few out there. We scrambled like mad, they certainly left a few out there. I’m proud of their effort and we can all go home happy.

“There are lots of positives in there. We lost Keyesy (Joe Keyes) five minutes in and they all had to step up rather than having Keyesy who has been our leader. Everyone had to take a little bit of ownership there and I thought they did. I thought young Tom Inman did a really good job there as well.”

Simon Grix lays down challenge to the Panthers

Grix has challenged his side to bring that same intensity to the rest of the Championship season as they look to secure a place in the play-offs.

He added: “On the whole, there are lots of positives to take.

“The question for us is ‘can we raise our game to that sort of level of intensity and stay there every week?’ because we’ve had games where we’ve been up – Bradford at home not long ago – everyone was up and we went up to Newcastle after that little break and we were pretty average and we’ve sort of lowered our standards a bit.

“If we can get our standards up and be consistent with it, then we’re in with a shot of having a good run at the end of the season.”

Next up for the Panthers is a clash against Batley at the Championship’s Summer Bash in York on Sunday, May 28.

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