Challenge Cup reaction: Simon Grix ‘happy’ after Halifax Panthers thrash Bradford Bulls

Doubles from the excellent Louis Jouffret and James Saltonstall, as well as a try from Jake Maizen, ensured Fax booked their place in the last-16 draw on Monday evening and avenged their recent Championship 26-22 defeat at the hands of their West Yorkshire neighbours.

After the brilliant win, Grix said:

“There were a lot of pleasing bits. The zero, they’re brilliant to get. And being in the hat for the next one is great as well. The overall pleasing bit is seeing what has been bubbling away underneath the surface for a while. Hopefully it is a penny-drop kind of moment for a few of them.

“We played low-risk skill and ball movement and it challenges teams where you stretch them, gaps become bigger in the middle of the field and you get your joy.

“It’s a knockout competition and we’ve got a week off next week, there’s no point in holding anything back. We needed to get fired into it and put on a performance that you can be proud of and happy with on that week off because it’s a long week off when you don’t put a good one in.

“There are a lot of positives there. I am happy with them all tonight. I thought they were good.

“It’s great to get the win but the loss in the league still stinks. That doesn’t leave you. But there were more positives than negatives. The lads have been working really hard. We just haven’t been pulling the trigger but tonight I felt we did that.

“We have now got something to build on. We have got a week off now, which you need every now and again. But it would have been nice to roll straight on to the next one and carry some of that forward.

“We certainly won’t forget that and hopefully it gives us a shot of confidence when we do return.

And while Grix agreed that Jouffret had a great game, the head coach also singled out Jacob Fairbank.

“He (Louis) had some great touches,” admitted Grix. “But I also thought Bob Fairbank had his best game for us in terms of his intent with and without the ball.

“He led the middle well for that first 30 minutes or so which allowed Keyesey a bit more time to make the right decision and Louis and Woody (James Woodburn-Hall) were both really quick and it put us in a position where we were asking questions constantly.”

The draw for the last-16 takes place at 6.30pm on Monday evening but Grix revealed he is more interested in Fax’s next league game, away at Newcastle Thunder on Sunday, May 7.

“I’m not bothered to be honest (who Halifax get in the next round). A home draw would be great. We are not going to win the Challenge Cup but it would be great to test us and go against one of the big teams and get another good crowd down here.

“But we will take who we are given. It’s not our choice. I’m more interested in getting hold of Newcastle and getting a head start on that. We get a little bit of room now so we’ll focus on putting in a good performance at Newcastle. It will be a tough fixture.”