Simon Grix: ‘A sigh of relief when we crossed in the end’

Italy international Maizen was also on the try-sheet in the first half, along with James Saltonstall and Lachlan Walmsley, as Fax raced into a 16-0 lead at The Shay.

However, an Aaron Murphy try just before the hooter and a Uili Liu brace in the second half brought the Eagles right back into the contest.

But, with only two points separating the sides, Maizen grabbed his second of the game in the dying seconds, moments after Saltonstall had intercepted a Sheffield attack and launched Fax to the other end.

On the game-winning play, Grix said:

“Salty (James Saltonstall) has come up with the play. He is a freak of nature to be honest. Trains like Jane, plays like Tarzan. He has come up with a really big play for us there and there was a sigh of relief when we crossed in the end as it was a nervy finish.

“Two points on day one is nice. If you lose your first one it just puts a bit of a downer on it and then all the external pressures start immediately.

“I’d be like that as a football fan if my team loses on day one - all this time in anticipation and you don’t get the result. So I am happy with this result.”

Fax’s first half dominance was rewarded with three tries, while they also took advantage of a series of unforced errors from Sheffield, as well as a moment of ill-discipline from substitute Brandon Douglas who was sin-binned by referee Liam Rush for saying too much.

However, the visitors managed three tries of their own to force a nervy finish.

“In the first half I thought we were really controlled,” revealed Grix. “We got off to a good start and for the first 30 minutes everything just looked really controlled and played at our pace.

“I thought we managed their sin bin quite well and took some points out of that and took some energy away from them, and that probably helped us late in the game when they were on the comeback and we just had a bit more in our legs.

“But in that second half I thought we lacked a bit of intent in defence and we let Sheffield play at their pace.

“Their tries were pretty disappointing - they weren’t fancy plays. It was just a bit of brute force and I thought we wilted far too easily on our goal line so that is something to look at.

“But it is a marathon not a sprint. It’s only round one, it’s a long season. If it was a ten out of ten right now, you’d be looking and worrying about where your improvements are going to come. We know what we need to get better at and I thought, generally, the boys had a dig today. We will take it, move on and just keep building and getting better every week.

“On the whole, we have got the two points in the bag so we are happy with certain aspects of it but there is plenty to work on.”

Fax will face Featherstone Rovers at the Millenium Stadium in round two of the Championship next Sunday, February 12, kick off 4pm.