Grix set for coaching coronation after Fax make it four straight wins with success over Bulls

Grix has now won four straight games since taking over as interim boss following the exit of Richard Marshall, but the club have called a media conference for Wednesday, with the expectation the former King Cross junior will be given the job on a permanent basis.

“We are almost there on that,” Grix told the Press after his side came from 14-12 down at the break to go level with the Bulls on 16 points, just a fortnight before the sides meet in the Challenge Cup quarter finals.

“I’m proud to have represented my town as a player and now as a coach.

“Leading that group of players is a great; they work so hard day to day and week to week and they’re a pleasure to be around.

“It’s a big win, it probably instills a bit of belief for us moving forward.

“We probably played somewhere near our capabilities with the ball, although we were still a bit sloppy in some areas.

“We had some busted bodies - Ben Kavanagh shouldn’t have been out there after 10 minutes, but he put his hand up for the team - so I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“It was nowhere near our best, we still have a way to go before we get to that, but it’s a step in the right direction.

“Those winning behaviours we’ve talked about, you build them, they don’t fall in place overnight.

“It’s a work in progress, but tonight I couldn’t doubt anyone’s effort; they all did the utmost for themselves, each other and the shirt on their back.

“We looked a ‘controlled desperate’ in defence, which is how it needs to be.

“That try line is their livelihood, my livelihood.

“They’ve always had pride in it, but sometimes things get a little bit off track and we’re just shunting it back to where it needs to be.

“We came up with some silly plays at the end, throwing balls everywhere instead of getting to the kick, but we’re building.

“It’s going to take time to be consistent, but we’ve probably raised the bar a little bit today so we need to live up to that now.”

Grix was less impressed by the match officials, with question marks over the Bulls’ first try and the dubious ruling out of a Will Sharp try just before the break.

“The players were a bit peeved at half time, to be honest,” said Grix.

“There were some pretty poor decisions, I thought, and we overcame those because they can sap you emotionally.

“There are some experienced heads in that room and they knew what they needed to do.

“Some days you get those decisions, some days you don’t; I thought we were on the end of some rough ones, but another week we’ll get some.”

Fax’s team was reshuffled to accommodate the late withdrawal of James Woodburn-Hall, with centre Steve Tyrer coming in just days after plastic surgery on his eyelid.

Grix’s older brother, Scott, played his first game for the club since returning from Huddersfield on loan, meaning half back Ben White missed out.

“Those are the tough decisions we want to have,” said Grix.

“The 17 that play need to be playing well and know that if they don’t do the job then someone else is ready to go.

“It was difficult to make those choices and having those conversations is difficult.

“But they’ve all handled it well and none of them are out of the shirt for good.

“Letting Ben know that he wasn’t playing after two very good games was hard.

“But we didn’t bring Scott, with 400 games worth of experience, here to watch from the stands.

“He’s come to play and I thought he was pretty good, just a few timing issues that always come with joining a new team.

“He’s a very good communicator on the field, which is important for us.”