Fax’s Garside: Forwards need to stand up against York

Boss Simon Grix took aim at his pack - particularly his front rowers - in the wake of last week’s back-to-back two-point losses to Dewsbury and Sheffield.

And Garside, a close-season recruit from Bradford Bulls who has replaced Shane Grady on the club’s left edge, admitted the coach’s criticism was justified.

“As forwards, we need to stand up and be counted,” said Garside.

“We’ve probably been relying on the wingers and the centres a bit too much to get us out of trouble.

“We just need to carry the ball harder than we have been doing.

“There were a few home truths at training on Thursday after the Dewsbury game and a few more at half time on Saturday.

“We need to be stronger and more physical as a collective and get a bit tougher and a bit more aggressive.

“If we start standing together like that, we won’t be too far away.

“In the end, we are talking about two two-point defeats, but we do need to tidy up a little bit and make sure we are turning the ball over on our terms a lot more consistently than we have been doing.”

One unwelcome effect of Fax’s lack of domination in the middle of the field has been a steady stream of penalties.

“We got out of our end okay against Sheffield,” said Garside, who emphasised the challenge that will be posed by the Knights, who are win-less after meeting likely title contenders Toulouse and Leigh in the first two rounds.

“But as soon as they got the ball, we were just tossing up easy penalties - offside, not square at marker - just making it too easy for them really.

“Against Dewsbury, we gave away 10 penalties in the first half, you just can’t do that.

“It’s a tough game anyway and it’s even tougher when you’re giving teams a leg up with stats like that.

“We played York in pre-season and they’ve had a tough start, playing some good opposition.

“They’ll be looking to get back on track against us and we’re looking to put some things right as well.

“We need to have a good week’s prep and turn up with the right attitude and smiles on our faces.”