Fax's Grady wants more of the good, less of the bad against Salford

Newly-signed back rower Shane Grady wants Halifax to build on last weekend's first half effort at Widnes when they host Super League outfit Salford on Sunday in their third and final pre season fixture (3.0).
Shane Grady clashes with Steve Tyrer at Dewsbury last seasonShane Grady clashes with Steve Tyrer at Dewsbury last season
Shane Grady clashes with Steve Tyrer at Dewsbury last season

But the former Widnes player, who signed for Fax in the autumn after a three year stint at Dewsbury, also warned that their second 40 minutes at the Halton Stadium, which saw a 6-0 deficit blow out to 30-0 as the Vikings exploited a youthful right side defence, fell below the expected standard.

“I thought the first half was very positive, the way we had each other’s backs in defence was really encouraging,” said Grady, whose consistency has arguably been the biggest single plus of the losses to Widnes and Featherstone.

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“Widnes had more field position and possession, so to hold them out apart from that one try was a good effort.

“On the flip side, I didn’t think we were good enough in the second half.

“We fell over a bit and let them dictate the game to us; it was a bit embarrassing at times the way they cut through us.

“We had some team changes, but we’ve only got a small squad and we’re going to need those players who came in to be able to do the job for us during the season.

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“We’ll look at that this week and try to improve again against Salford.”

Grady was originally signed to finally fix Fax’s left side back row conundrum, complementing the ultra-reliable Dane Manning on the opposite flank.

But with Manning now at rivals Batley after walking out over the club’s close-season pay cut, Grady finds himself on the left, alongside friend and former Widnes teammate Steve Tyrer, with his sights set firmly on a top four Championship finish.

“I did three years at Dewsbury and I enjoyed it there, but I wanted to make the top four and play in those Super 8s Qualifiers and that’s why I came here,” said Grady.

“That’s my ambition and I’ve enjoyed it so far.

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“I spent most of my time at Dewsbury at centre; I think I played back row in all three seasons, but it was only this year I played most of the games there.

“To me, they’re different but also very similar and I play the game in a very similar way in both positions.

“It’s not a massive change to me and I’ll play whichever one Richard wants me to, I don’t mind.

“I’ve been running off Ben (Johnston) in training and we seemed to go okay together with the ball at Widnes, so that’s something for us to build on this weekend.”