Only the best performance will do in clash with leaders
Continued from back
Wigan Warriors loanee Amir Bourouh came off the bench and caught the eye of Grix, who said: “He’s had to be patient and wait for his chance.
“I wanted him to run, and to bring people into the game. He was excellent, and he will be a really important member of the squad moving forward.”
In assessing the squad’s training plan, Grix identified areas from the three competitive matches so far that need improvement.
“There have been common patterns in our losses to Batley and Bradford,” said Grix. “These elements keep coming up, so we need to address them as soon as possible before the weekend. We can’t afford to be off the pace against Toulouse.”
The only injury worries for Fax are Scott Grix and Matt Garside, who may miss the Toulouse game.
The Panthers boss said: “For Scott, a hamstring injury could be any number of weeks. We will have to see what the diagnosis is on that one. Matt probably won’t be available with the new concussion protocols. There will have to be some changes to the line-up, but we have guys ready to go.”
Meanwhile, Panthers’ centre Greg Worthington also bemoaned his side’s failure to make the most of their strong start against the Bulls.
He said: “We had a really good first 20 minutes. After that, there were a few little things which knocked us off our stride.
“We then didn’t recover well enough, and establish our dominance. That is what ultimately gave Bradford the win.
“Once we took the lead, we deviated from our game plan. Bradford stepped it up, and it was quite even for the rest of the game. We didn’t ever return to the level of the first 20 minutes, and it is an 80-minute game.”
Danny Brough and Jordan Lilley were instrumental in leading the Bulls’ attacking moves. Lilley scored one try; and kicked the crucial gamewinning goal.
While acknowledging the quality of the Bulls, Worthington suggested the Halifax defence should have been able to stop their attacking influence, adding: “Clearly their experience helps in games like this, but equally we have to be up in their faces and stopping them.
“We didn’t do that nearly well enough, and it gave them the space they needed to hurt us.”
“We need to be winning the games for the supporters, and for ourselves.
“We have to be winning games like this, especially with the start we made. We can’t be good for 20 minutes; it has to be the entire game.”
“All the sides in the Championship are physically strong. I think it’s often the smartest teams which are the best, as they know how to handle the crucial elements and periods of games.
“I think Toulouse have one of the best teams on paper, and we need to be at our best if we are going to stand a chance of getting a result.”