“This game has a bearing on how things go in the play-offs” says Grix as Panthers prepare for Batley

Fax suffered their third defeat in four games last Sunday when they fell to a 19-6 loss against Whitehaven.

A third-place finish in the Championship is still in the Panthers’ hands but a win over Batley is paramount.

Grix said: “We’re not happy with what happened at the weekend against Whitehaven but it’s in our hands.

“We need our capabilities to put that right this week. We’ll put our best foot forward and hopefully the crowd her behind us in our final home game [of the regular season].

“They’re always tough games against Batley. Both teams are relatively similar in terms of style.

“There’s almost a tangible togetherness there which can take you a long way – evidently, we both finished in reasonable positions so far this season where few would probably expect us to be.

“Both teams are similar in the fact that over the last two games we haven’t come up with the point when we really needed to.

“This game has a bearing on how things go in the play-offs and both sides should be looking to control what’s in their hands. Play-off calendar performance is needed I think.”

Finishing third would cement a home play-off game for the Panthers. What’s more, a win over Batley would cap off a strong season on a high.

Grix added: “The play-offs are effectively a bonus section of the league where promotion is decided.

“However, where you finish after all the rounds is the yardstick for how you feel the season has gone.

“I think while it’s in our control, we should try to finish as high as we possibly can – and that is third. It’s all to play for.

“I spoke in recent weeks about performances needing to be good for us to have a chance of making a mark in the play-offs. We haven’t quite had that but neither have they.

“Over the course of your career, there aren’t many meaningful games such as play-offs and finals. If the average career is ten years so you have ten cracks of getting in there. We’ve got one now so we need to make the most of it.”