I'm sure SG will know this and it know doubt will be from who's available and not long to wait.
It would be nice to here from Grix on the game, squad and the ones missing, if not before the game then at least at some point.

No mention of injuries here , maybe more will be revealed in the pre match interview . https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/sport/ ... ld-3526862

No mention of injuries here , maybe more will be revealed in the pre match interview . https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/sport/ ... ld-3526862

Anyway nice to see normality returning after 2 years of hell. Might even get on my holiday paid in jan 2020 this year !

First competitive run out for a few months for the lads and the first ever for this group of players.
Disappointed with conceding 50+ points so our D will know doubt be looked at and worked on.
Good showing in attack with halves and 9’s linking well from the whistle and improving as the game went on when we had the ball.
Aston, Keyes, Wood, Knowles showed up well as did Kav, McComb and Barber in the second half for me.

Entertaining game with plenty of promise shown by Fax - think Kyle Wood will make a massive difference this year with the speed and quality of service from dummy half - both half backs played well but it definitely helps them be creative if they get quick ball from the hooker. Saw JWH with strapping on his wrist which explains his absence - unfair to judge on brief cameo but on what I saw today would much prefer Walmsley on the wing than fullback.

I’m going to wait till I watch the video back for a full assessment, Ignoring constant penalties around the ruck which seemed harsh it was disappointing to see fax consistently conceding tries and obviously the defence needs some work . On individual performance I thought Keyes Aston and wood linked together well and it was those combinations that caused Wakefield some problems in the opening 20 mins of the 2nd half. All the pack looked fit , Morris , Kavanagh,and gwaze all played well , special mention to knowles who is definitely my type of player , some big hits and big metres made , with Murray and gee to add to that the pack is definitely an upgrade on last season. Arundal looks a handful and I can’t speak highly enough of McComb, he’s got that je me said quoi in attack and always looks a threat . Walmsley never got a clean break and looked a little shaky at times and got physically battered but things will get better for him I’m sure . Overall an entertaining game with things to work on defensively but we look threatening in attack . Just a special note congratulations to the ref on your testimonial really appreciate your contribution to the game , thanks for the memories.

Personally I was quite surprised at the gap between the two teams. The 1st half display from Fax was dreadful but in contrast the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half was excellent. Wood, Arundel and Keyes stood out for me and overall i came away from the game with the feeling we'd had a decent first runout with plenty more to come. Scott will be pleased with a good turnout and Simon will be looking forward to going a step further at Salford. Hopefully we didn't pick up any injuries and we get another good game under our belts next Friday. Up The Fax!

Added note on injuries ,I’ve heard jwh has a broken thumb and Walmsley looked to be strapping his fingers maybe a dislocation.

I too was disappointed with the gulf between the 2 sides i know they are a fulltime super league side but once they got on a roll it was like we could do nothing about it. Our middle defence could not cope with them at times even when there starting forwards went off we where still struggling to pull down there younger forwards. That area of our game still worries me for next season even though we wont be playing sides of that caliber. Jacob getting 10 minutes didn't help either but the spacing in our defence up the middle looked too wide and Wakefield had a field day there. And brandon going off in the opening 10 minutes looked worrying to me he seemed to be pointing to is bicep witch caused him a lot of problems last season. The positives where the halfbacks and wood at hooker for me i think we will score more points next season then the last and those players will be the reason why. I would also like to see louis get a run in the halves not that cory or joe did much wrong i just think that louis form last season for Whitehaven is something i would like to see in a panthers shirt.

Spot on with all comments.

Elland Craft & Tap, Summit for the Weekend 4.6% Mmm!

Pete only a friendly , don’t read to much into this game anything can happen when the season starts , our first friendly last year we beat Saints at Saints and we all know how the season panned out .

Ey-up Charlie. I was, like TS, surprised by the difference between the teams. But.. we showed more than enough to tell me we will go well this year. Testimonials/friendlies mean nowt as you say. I can't wait for the Batley match. See you in March hopefully. Magic Rock Tap, Ringmaster 3.9& Mmm! Up The Fax!

LJ should start in the halves on Friday and be given some big minutes there with both Keyes and Aston in a swap round.
Question mark over who plays at 1 if Woody is still out with his hand and similar to Walmsley, I saw him take a knock in the second half on one of our attacking sets.
Whitton maybe given some game time there at some point?

Difficult to assess how long woody will be out for broken thumb is 2 to 8 weeks , he said whitton will get game time on Friday so a chance for him to shine , I wonder if Alex Walker is still available.

We do have a few options to choose from for the fullback roll but other then whitton the options seem like makeshift ones to me. I would rather we signed alex walker if possible then say scott comes out of retirement to cover the roll while woodburn-hall is injured. I am looking forward to seeing what whitton can do friday night.

For as long as I can remember we've struggled to have two top notch half backs. This season we have Keyes and Jouffret, most clubs in this division would love to have them. Surely we should be playing them together in readiness for the Batley game?

Pete , I think we at Leigh have better halves in our squad , don’t despair though , I have a few Fax players in my Fax Fantasy League team .Charlie knows .Another decent signing for us again today , and apparently another at the week end .

Unless with having three top notch half backs SG see’s Keyes and Aston as the first choice pairing?
Or it could be with JWH being out Grix has also got to think about the fullback slot and Jouffret would naturally come into consideration.
Missing out on the Bradford game didn’t help the pre season prep in testing out the combinations but surely out of everybody Simon is in the best position to know who to play where?

Of course he is but it's all about opinions. I don't see Aston as an improvement on last years players but I would be more than happy to be proved wrong. Up The Fax!

When was the last time any of us saw Aston or any of the new signings play over a number of games to assess his current ability levels?
Why should he from all of the other new signings be singled out as having to prove himself?
His last 2 seasons have been largely lost to covid and injuries.
Before that he was a young man in his early twenties who did enough to be a regular starter in a strong Eagles side, a London side and have interest from a couple of SL teams.
Right now he is just 26 with all that experience in his game and his performance on Sunday both in attack and defense was top notch.
In a new side after what he and everyone’s been through recently after just 1 game what else can we can expect or ask for.

I see Aston as potentially somebody who could turn into a Liam Finn type half back. I may of course be totally wrong.

Because I’ve only just returned to watching Halifax and rugby over the last 2 years I don’t really have any preconceived opinions on players and tend to look at them objectively. Regarding Aston specifically I thought he was one of our better players on Sunday, he’s certainly defensively an upgrade on Harris who I rated btw but I guess only time will tell . I think having a quality coach in Liam Finn working with all the halfback options will be a great positive to the squad , in fact Simon Grix Scott Grix and Liam Finn played in key positions throughout their careers all recently retired so still in touch with the modern game . You could see the class of Kyle wood who also has extensive super league experience, it’ll be interesting to see how we perform with a game under our belt against Salford on Friday.

Well if he does he'll be a very good player. I though would prefer a more direct, running type of half back.

Until Sunday I was one of the supporters who, probably unfairly was a bit underwhelmed by Astons signing and his apparent place in the pecking order ahead of Jouffret. Like others I thought he had an excellent game, in fact when we were struggling in the first half was the more prominent of the 2 halves. The best thing for me though was the way him and Keyes dovetailed as a pair - remarkable in their first match together. In the past we've had plenty of individually good halves but very rarely two that really complemented each other. It is only one friendly but that combination plus Wood gives me more confidence in our attack, particularly near our opponents line than I've had for a long time.

LJ no doubt is a cracking half and I would love to see him have some big minutes.
But it’s not just about him, on Sunday for example who would we have picked at 1,6 and 7 from who’s available.
Keyes and LJ in the halves and leave Aston out completely or play him at 1?
If not him then who at 1 without moving someone else out of position, possibly not just for Wakefield but likely several weeks.
Walmsley looked all over the place to me when he went in there.
Bearing in mind SG see’s them every week in training for the first run out it’s a understandable why and who he went with.
I’m sure there’ll be a few combo’s tried against Salford with LJ in the halves.
Woody being out is a real bummer because as stated it’s not just about him either, apart from losing one of our form players it has the disruptive knock effect.