Grix ‘frustrated’ as Fax’s indiscipline lets 12-man Leigh off the hook in Championship thriller

Halifax coach Simon Grix admitted to being ‘frustrated’ with a mixed bag of a performance as his side lost 34-20 at Championship big spenders Leigh.
Jodie Broughton scored twiceJodie Broughton scored twice
Jodie Broughton scored twice

A glut of handling errors and second half indiscipline arguably cost Fax the chance of breaking the Centurions’ winning streak after the home side had half back Jarrod Sammut sent off a couple of minutes before half time.

At that stage, Leigh led 14-10, with Fax having surged back into the game from 14-0 down with tries from Jodie Broughton and Ed Barber.

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But the concession of a series of kickable penalties, gratefully accepted by Leigh stand off Ben Reynolds, allowed Leigh to gradually pull away before Cameron Scott’s hat trick try sealed victory and rendered Broughton’s second try and a consolation from Shaun Robinson irrelevant.

“I am going to sound really negative, and that’s a shame because there were a lot of positives in there as well,” said Grix, who watched Frenchman Kevin Larroyer get sin binned for the third time in four league games for a shoulder charge on Reynolds late in the game.

“But I’m just frustrated that our completion wasn’t where it needed to be and we didn’t do what we said we were going to do.

“The fact is they played half the game with 12 men and we failed to break them down.

“We failed because of errors, seven tackle sets, penalties.

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“We were in a good place at half time, even after a poor start.

“We’d shown how simple it was; get the ball moving quickly and you’ll score some tries.

“The message at half time was pretty basic. They’re a man down, so complete high, split the field and make them make a choice on their numbers and react off the back of that.

“And then we didn’t complete high and we didn’t split the field.

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“They played smarter and tougher than we did. They completed at 80 per cent, we completed at 50.

“Some of it was the same players, making the same mistakes.

“I’ve been honest with them: Some of them have been lucky in terms of circumstances to still be playing and we’ll revisit that before our next game.”

While Sammut’s tackle on Ed Barber, the Australian driving the back rower into the ground seconds after being sat on his backside by the former Elland junior, definitely merited a red card, Grix also felt winger Adam Higson should have been dismissed minutes earlier after levelling Steve Tyrer off the ball.

“Higson, I’d like that one explaining,” said Grix, who lost half back James Woodburn-Hall, preferred to the fit-again Tom Gilmore, and in-form centre James Saltonstall to second half injuries.

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“When you hit someone round the head and drop him, when he’s not got the ball, that’s a red card.

“Gilmore is alright and could have played, but we stuck with Woody based on what he did last week.

“He didn’t deserve to come out of the team, but it now looks like he might be out of the team for a few weeks.

“He’s done something to his ankle and he’s not moving very well.

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“James did something to his hip and couldn’t continue and losing backs like that is always difficult.

“It was a bit of a mess in that sense, but it’s absolutely no excuse.

“I thought Ed Barber was really good when he came on, he probably looked like the bloke who was going to break them down.”

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