Halifax Panthers boss Grix calls for strong defence in clash with Widnes Vikings

Vikings have scored 104 points in their first two wins of the new season but the Panthers go into the match on the back of a 28-0 victory over London. Grix, who watched his side go down to Batley in the opening weekend of the campaign, was pleased to see his men bounce back despite horrendous weather conditions.

He said: “Happy to get off the mark, two points on the board. It wasn’t the day for fast flowing fancy rugby league. I don’t believe it was for any other fixture across the round.”

Grix is expecting a difficult contest against Widnes, but is happy with the progress his side has made. He said: “Every game is tough, the Championship is a very good league.

“We can expect them to come here and throw the ball around a bit. But I think we’ve taken some steps forward and it will be another tough fixture against a team that I think have improved quite a bit since last season.

“We’ve got a lot to do, but after that [win over London] we should be confident. We showed some resilience. We’ll work on that this week. Dig out the bad, celebrate the good stuff because there was a lot of good stuff in there as well.

Widnes, who beat London in the opening round, put 70 points past Workington last weekend. Grix said: “Offensively, Craven and Smith doing a great job for them. Same for Matty Fozard, Tyler Dupree, [they’ve] got a number of blokes who have played some decent stuff in the last game.

“They play that Widnes way and they will put scores on teams this year, particularly at home. We’re going to have to be on it defensively.”