Fax’s 150th anniversary: 2023 ‘just another year’ for head coach Simon Grix

For Grix’s primary focus - and quite rightly so - is to prepare his Fax side for what is likely to be a competitive and enthralling Championship season, in which there are ambitions to be battling towards the top end of the table come September.

“It is just another year for me,” asserted Grix. “We can all dream about a future back in Super League but that is not going to help us in the day-to-day.

"My job is to lead the playing group and provide them and prepare them with as much information as possible.

“Out of our week, Sunday is the only day people see. That is only 25 per cent of our week because we train three times. It is about controlling what we can control and that is those four days.

"Hopefully we can get enough good prep in to make sure we can be the best we can be on a Sunday every week.

“It will be a tough old league. The Championship is a great league and I think it is getting tighter and tighter with more clubs who are seemingly finding ways of improving their business and what they spend.

"People are going for it with a bit more ambition - bigger than they have before.

“It is quite an interesting competition and hopefully we’re in the mix come the end of it. You can’t afford to slip up or not be ready. In the end you get what you deserve, that is how I view it.

“If you are consistent in your prep, then hopefully the performances follow that and, come the back end of the year, you will hopefully be in the mix.”

However, the Halifax-born former second-row forward does believe the significant milestone should be celebrated by the fans.

He said: “It is a celebration of our history and an opportunity to reflect on our past and have a look at the trials and tribulations and, hopefully in the not too distant future, we have a plan about where we are heading and what the future looks like.

“There is something for everyone. There’s something for our older fans to reminisce about and for our younger fans there is a chance to see what the club has done over the years and see what we have been through.

“It is special for a lot of people, and especially for the game itself. But for our fanbase it is something to celebrate.”