‘That is a really humbling moment’ - Simon Grix left ‘gutted’ as Halifax Panthers get heavily beaten by Batley Bulldogs

Luke Hooley led the way for the Bulldogs with a splendid hat-trick on his way to notching 26 points, while Dane Manning bagged a double.

George Senior and Josh Hodson also got in on the action. Fax had no response, much to Grix’s disappointment.

“I’m gutted,” he said. “It was tough to watch. At 12-0 at half-time it’s not the end of the world. But ‘masters of our own demise’ sums up the whole game. We had a couple of visits down their end, two intercepts and they tear away which is fine, that’s just a bit of decision-making; sometimes it comes off for you, sometimes they don’t. There were a few unforced errors and a play-the-ball error but at half-time I thought we were quite comfortable and we were bang in the game.

“The second half was the general story of our season. Our discipline, poor, and our skill level, poor.”

He continued: “That is a really humbling moment today. Ultimately, this performance hasn’t come today. This has been building. This has been coming. I didn’t see it though. Before the game, we were jovial, everyone was looking forward to it and looking forward to having a good dig at a good place to come and play rugby and certainly a great place to come and take two points.

“I didn’t see this particular performance coming but a hiding like that has probably been coming because we’ve been getting away with it. Today you have got a ruthless Batley who have put us to the sword.”

On Batley’s performance, which sees them move into second place above Toulouse, Grix said:

“Batley were great, I’ll give them that.They were really good. For context, in terms of the second half, we had seven sets and completed four. Against Toulouse, I think we had 11 sets and that was as bad as I have seen it.

“Seven sets in possession in 40 minutes against a good team who kicked well and put us under the right end of the field for the majority and made a great job of it.”

At 14-0, six minutes into the second half, Fax created their best opportunity of the contest with James Saltonstall seeming destined to ground the ball, but he knocked-on at the crucial moment.

On what could have been a decisive moment, Grix commented:

“He doesn’t ground the ball, often when you are in these dumps, these little bits continue to happen. It was unfortunate because it was a good bit of rugby.

“I can wear it all, if it's a plan of what we’re doing, the content of training, I can wear that in losses. But, generally, our indiscipline and our poor skill individually is what’s hurting us.”

The result leaves Fax clinging onto that vital last play-off spot by one point ahead of in-form London Broncos. On the upcoming few weeks, Grix said:

“We just need to be better. I have tried to explain to the boys that there is no magic wand. I’ve been around long enough, there is no magic wand, nobody is going to fix it for you, there is no cavalry, you have got to fix it yourself.

“It starts with looking in the mirror. I do it after every game and I don’t sleep for a few nights when they don’t go well. The frustration levels are really high but there is only us that can fix it.

“It’s one of them, dig your heels in. It’s a bit of a gut check.”