Challenge Cup preview: ‘No pressure on Halifax’ against St Helens says Simon Grix

Fax go into the highly-anticipated sixth round Challenge Cup tie on the back of a resounding 60-0 victory over Whitehaven on Sunday.

The Saints, however, have failed to reach the heights of previous Super League campaigns - in which they have been crowned champions since 2019 - after returning from Australia in February where they beat Penrith Panthers 13-12 to claim the World Club Series title.

However, Grix insists there is “no pressure” on his players. He said:

“We just want to enjoy this week. Preparations are short and sweet. There is not a lot of time to get anything substantial done. But there is no pressure on Halifax whatsoever. There isn’t any on Saints as everyone just thinks it will be a formality. And rightly so, they probably should think that.

“We just want to make it a contest which means sticking together and buying into a bit of a plan. No one has really found the absolute cure to beating St Helens but I think there is some stuff in the games that they have lost that hopefully we can try to adopt ourselves.

“There are no glaringly obvious weaknesses but there is a style of play there where you have got to try and play a certain way to stick with them and we have got to be brave enough to do that.

“Maybe they have started a little bit slow due to the fact that they flew to Australia and enjoyed that success. But it’s hard, they have been at the top of the tree for a while and backing that up is not an easy feat.

“I am sure they will come good and be there or thereabouts when the season reaches the business end. At the minute they are going through a little bit of finding their feet.

“We just need to enjoy it really. It is a good occasion to play in. There isn’t a lot of pressure on us. It is just an opportunity for us to go out there and play against the World Champions.

“And we have got lads in our team who aspire to play in Super League so this is an opportunity for them to measure themselves.”

One player who has certainly caught the eye this season is Lachlan Walmsley, who leads the Championship try scoring charts with 17. Asked if there was a better in-form winger in the league at present than the Scotland international, Grix responded:

“Certainly not in the try scoring stakes and if the wing position was just about putting the ball down then I’d say absolutely hands down. But I think there are a number of other blokes doing a good job in a number of areas of the game.

“Lachlan is doing alright too and he is steadily improving and he has come on in a lot of areas. It took a bit of time getting up to speed but what he is doing now is a product of 12-18 months of solid work.”

On what his final message will be to the team just before they leave the home dressing room at The Shay on Friday evening, Grix said:

“Just to enjoy it. You are not going to get the opportunity to welcome this calibre of team, and be able to test yourself like this, every week. Just get in and enjoy it. Leave it all out there.

“(87) is a long time ago but it will be nice to talk about another good performance against St Helens.”