Halifax Head Coach Richard Marshall has stressed his side aren’t in the Qualifiers just to make up the numbers.
Halifax were beaten 14-0 by Toronto Wolfpack in the Qualifiers opener at the MBi Shay but Marshall didn’t see too much between the two teams.
“We were very competitive. It was good to watch,” said Marshall.
“We were good value for what we are. Out of that 19-man squad, there are nine players who were born in Halifax or have come through the reserve grade.
“There’s a bigger picture for us but we’re not here to just make up the numbers, we’re here to have a really good go. We came up slightly short today but there wasn’t a lot in the two teams today.”
With the Shaymen not scoring any points, it was no surprise that Marshall believed it was execution that let his side down on Sunday.
“I thought we had plenty of opportunities, we had some strong field position at key times but we came up short. It was probably a hangover from the last few games. We were a bit edgy and a bit nervous with the ball.”
With Toulouse the destination for Halifax in their second game, Marshall is hopeful that Simon Grix will be back in contention after missing out against the Wolfpack through injury.
“Between him and Scott Murrell, they’ve been really pivotal to what we’ve been trying to do.
“He’s not trained for two weeks but I’m hopeful he’ll be available. He adds a different dimension and he’s a tough player. That’s what we’re going to need. They’re a skilful team, they’ll take their chances, we need to take ours.
“We’ve had some really good battles with Toulouse before the split. We had a really good game with them here, we managed to get over the line with that one.
“We’ll be confident we can go there. The logistics and the travel are not ideal. We’ve got to bus down to Luton and then somewhere else and then fly somewhere else. But that’s the nature of the beast at this time of year.”