T’Other Side: Halifax

T’Other Side: Halifax

HALIFAX 2018 SHIRTS

LAST TIME OUT

Head Coach: Richard Marshall

This is his fourth year as head coach at Halifax. He had a very successful first year. Results dipped somewhat in his second season, but last year they made the Qualifiers again with a third place finish in the championship although Fev came from 4th place in the Championship to finish above Halifax in the Qualifiers.

Richard Marshall’s playing career started at Halifax where he spent six seasons. When he left Fax he had spells at Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants, London Broncos, Leigh Centurions and Swinton, retiring in 2007.  He played two games for Ireland in the 2003 European Nations Cup. Richard’s playing position was prop or second row.

Captain: Scott Murrell

Some teams have halfbacks with great pace others have players who are brilliant organisers (like Liam Finn!) Scott Murrell definitely comes into the brilliant organisers category. He is without doubt the real controlling force on the pitch for Halifax, commanding huge respect from the rest of his team. He began his career at Leeds Rhinos but made his first team debut for London Broncos in 2004 whilst on loan from Leeds. In 2006 he moved to Hull Kingston Rovers who were then in National League One. After securing promotion to the Super League at the end of that season he remained with Hull KR for a further 6 seasons before signing for Halifax in 2013. In 2010 he made an appearance off the bench for England.

At the back

New Zealander, Kieren Moss joined Halifax, on loan from Hull KR, following the departure of QLT to Castleford. Although he has not played in the NRL, he has been a squad member at both Penrith and Parramatta. In June 2016 he came to England to join Bradford Bulls and then signed for Hull KR in 2017. Halifax is the 3rd club he has played for his year having appeared for York on dual reg.  James Saltonstall can play at wing, centre or fullback. He was in the Warrington Academy but never played in their first team. He had loan spells from there with Bradford Bulls in 2014 and York in 2015 before joining Halifax in 2016. By virtue of his mother he is an Italian international and played for them in the 2013 World Cup. Recently Will Sharp had been playing for Halifax at fullback but reverted to the wing while they had Quentin Laulu-Togagae and has again been on the wing since the on loan signing of Kieren Moss. His career began with the then named Harlequins RL in 2008 moving to Hull FC for two seasons in 2011. That was followed by three very successful seasons at Fev before joining Halifax in 2016. Will was born in Nigeria but has played representative rugby for Cumbria.

In the halves

The usual halfback pairing for Halifax is Scott Murrell (see captain, above) and Ben Johnston. His career began at Castleford in 2012 and whilst there he had loan spells with both York and Dewsbury before joining Halifax in 2014. He is an Irish international. James Woodburn-Hall is the usual halfback deputy when needed but also plays in the backs. He is a Londoner and began his career with London Broncos in 2013. He also had loan spells with London Skolars and played for Hemel in 2015 before coming to Halifax in 2016.

At hooker

Ben Kaye, is much chunkier nowadays than in his time at Fev, but still has the same very recognisable running style. He started with Leeds in 2008 and joined London Broncos in 2009. The following year he had loan spells with London Skolars and Fev before signing for Fev in 2011 and moved to Halifax in 2014. Back in 2007 Ben played for the England U18 team. Brandon Moore is a Cumbrian and another who started his career at Castleford in 2015. He joined Halifax in 2016.

In the pack

Chester Butler who plays in the second row (sometimes at centre) comes from a very sporty family. His father was a professional footballer who played for many clubs including Halifax Town. His maternal grandfather was Colin Dixon, the Welsh and Great Britain international rugby league player who played for Halifax, Salford and Hull Kingston Rovers. Chester started his career with Halifax in 2016 and played for South Wales on dual reg last year. Shane Grady started his career as a centre with Widnes in 2008. He first played in the second row in 2010 and gradually it became his more usual position. He left Widnes at the end of 2011 and spent 2012 playing in Australia. He returned to London Broncos the following year. During 2013 he also played for Hemel Stags on dual reg. In 2014 he joined Dewsbury and after three years there he moved to Halifax last year. Regularly appearing at Prop is Will Maher who is at Halifax on loan from Castleford. He first played for Cas as an 18 year old in 2014 and also played for the England Academy that year. In 2016 he had a loan spell with Oxford and in 2017 had a loan spell with Batley. In 2015 Halifax signed prop forward Adam Tangata from Mount Pritchard Mounties in New South Wales. He has not yet played this year because of injury but might be back this week. Tangata was born in the Cook Islands and played for them in the 2013 World Cup.

Dual Registration and Loans

Halifax have dual registration agreements with Castleford Tigers and Newcastle Thunder. So far this year 5 Castleford players have played for Halifax - James Clare, Alex Foster, James Green, Jy Hitchcox and Gadwin Springer.

Halifax players Adam Brook and Conor McGrath have played for Newcastle Thunder on dual registration.

As well as dual reg, Halifax have two Cas players Brandon Douglas and Will Maher (see ‘In the pack’ section) on season long loan and since we last played against them have Kieren Moss on loan from Hull Kingston Rovers. Macauley Davies (second row) is on loan from Wigan

Chris Cullimore is on loan at Hemel Stags and Jordan Syme is at Rochdale.

The Fev Connection

There are five players who have played for Halifax this year and have previously played for Rovers. Ben Kaye (see 'At hooker') was a very popular hooker at Post Office Road for three years. Will Sharp (see 'At the back') was a great favourite during his time with Fev from 2013 to 2015. He scored many crucial tries including the last minute ones against Sheffield which took Fev into the play-offs in 2013 and the one which beat Batley in 2015 when Fev snatched victory by scoring 22 points in the last six minutes! Three of the Cas players who have appeared for Fax under dual reg have also played for Fev. Alex Foster was at Fev in 2015. James Green played 3 games on loan from Hull KR in 2013 and Jy Hitchcox originally came to England to play for Fev in 2015.

In the Rovers squad are three players who have played at Halifax. Richard Moore was there in 2015 and 2016 and Anthony Thackeray in 2012 and 2013. Sam Brooks began his first team career at Halifax in 2014, joining them from the Wigan academy.