Halifax head coach Richard Marshall has heaped praise on Simon Grix for his influence on the club.
The former Warrington forward has been an ever-present in Halifax’s Championship campaign so far and was a star performer in their recent victory over Swinton Lions.
The Halifax-born star has endured a torrid number of years from both a professional and personal standpoint. In 2014 he suffered a double leg fracture that resulted in him missing over 18 months of action, while it was confirmed that his young daughter was fighting liver cancer in April 2016.
Having now returned to the field, Marshall commended his perseverance.
“He’s a pleasure to work with, he really is,” Marshall said.
“He’s had a really tough time off the field and he’s come through it. I think he’s been involved in every game other than the Challenge Cup when we rested him, and that’s testament to his effort and hard work.
“He had a horrific break of his leg a few years ago and he’s managed to get himself back to feet. He’s probably off the pace in terms of Super League, but for the Championship he’s probably got to be up there as one of the performers and he’s Halifax through and through. He loves the club, he loves this town and he loves this team.”
Fax defeated Swinton on Sunday to climb up to fifth in the Championship, but Marshall is hoping that his side learned from the experience after the performance frustrated the Halifax chief.
“This team do like playing against the big teams,” he said.
“We have to have a different mentality and this was a good lesson in that and how we’ve got to turn out in the next couple of weeks. On that regard that’s a positive, we’ve had a battle, come through and I never felt we were going to lose that game.”
