Grix wants Halifax Panthers to regain 'hunger' for winning ahead of Whitehaven trip

Fax fell to a 36-0 drubbing at the hands of Leigh Centurions last weekend, a result that marked an end to their eight-match winning streak.

The Panthers seemed to be in a prime position to challenge one of the Championship’s two powerhouses, but ultimately had to endure a reality check against the Super League hopefuls.

“I thought we played within ourselves,” said Grix. “We needed to come here and be on our best. We played well short of that I think. We won’t take anything from Leigh’s performance, that’s probably the hungriest Leigh team I’ve seen, I thought they gave a really good performance against us there.

“They were dominant in all areas which is really hard to say to be honest. I might be going a bit far, I don’t know, but I thought we rolled over a little bit as well when it got a bit tough.

“Maybe because it’s acceptable to lose against Leigh at the minute, which isn’t good enough.

“However, we won’t kick stones and moan. We’ll use it as a learning experience and move on.

Grix added: “We didn’t ask enough questions because of the lack of ball movement really. We didn’t challenge them, we didn’t get much territory. Our kicking game was ordinary at best, which meant the likes of Ferguson, Inu, McDonnell, three big blokes picking up the ball in favourable positions.

“No complaints. I said to the boys, it’s like your parents catch you out when you’re a kid and they’re not mad at you, they’re disappointed. We’re just disappointed with what we turned out unfortunately.”

Next up for the Panthers is Sunday's clash against a Whitehaven side who ended their five-match losing run with a comeback victory at Dewsbury at the weekend.

Grix hopes the defeat to Leigh will fuel a better performance away in Cumbria, saying: “I do think we’ll have the springboard out of it, just in a different manner. It’ll be getting some hunger back for winning.

“Whitehaven aren’t getting the results at the minute but they’re a dangerous team. The drive up there, and you’ve got all the other factors that you throw in. It means we have to be on it to get some points up there.”

Halifax, who dropped to fifth in the table, trail fourth-placed Batley by one point and third-placed York by four.