‘Don’t die wondering’ - Boyhood Fax fan and former assistant coach Liam Finn sends message to the Panthers ahead of St Helens Challenge Cup tie

Finn joined as Simon Grix’s number two ahead of the 2022 season before leaving in June to become head coach at Dewsbury Rams.

And the boyhood Fax fan is sending Grix’s men his best wishes ahead of their big game with Saints at The Shay on Friday.

He said: “I hope they do really well. I grew up as a Halifax fan. I know it was short-lived when I went back there due to the fact that Dewsbury came calling and I couldn’t say no to the head coaching role.

“I was gutted to leave Simon who gave me the opportunity. He is a great coach and he is doing well with that team. I hope they do really, really well and I hope they put on a performance very similar to what they did in the semi final a few years ago.”

Finn has special memories of watching Fax growing up, especially in the Challenge Cup.

“It takes me back to Thrum Hall as a kid,” he revealed. “It was when Wigan came to town. All-ticket, full house, Scratching Shed packed to the rafters.

Wigan turning up, parking the bus and having to walk by the cricket pitch, round the back of the stand, all the way down to the changing rooms with the sloping ceiling and half of them can’t stand up straight and then running out and getting a boatload of grief from the Scratching Shed and everywhere else at Thrum Hall.

“It was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Halifax digging in and having a go. I was ball-boying down on the bottom side and I had a Wigan fan behind me, very irritating, it was 18-18, and the fan was shouting, “Take it back to Central Park, Wigan,” and then Joe Lydon stepped up and knocked over a drop goal from 50 metres.

“Those are the days that I remember growing up. They were absolutely unbelievable days for the town.

“I also went to Wembley. I was too young to remember it but we had the Challenge Cup at our house because my Dad was on the coaching staff at that time.

“I hope people come out in force and give the lads that extra energy to dig in.”

And he has a simple message for his former club:

“Good luck and get stuck in. Don’t die wondering. Put your best foot forward, don’t hang back. Don’t worry about it – at the end of the day, what is the worst that can happen? You get beat. It doesn’t make any difference to those fans and the people of Halifax who will be proud just to see you get fired in straight from the first whistle.”