T’Other Side: Halifax

T’Other Side: Halifax

2019 Matches

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

LAST TIME OUT

Head Coach: Simon Grix

Simon Grix is in his first job as a head coach having taken over from Richard Marshall in late April, initially in a caretaker role but was appointed on a permanent basis in late May.

His playing career began with Halifax (where he was born) in 2003. He was signed by Warrington in 2005 but missed out on the whole of his first year because of injury. He returned to Halifax in 2016 both as a player and as a member of the coaching staff. Although he has played for Fax this year he has only made one appearance since taking over as head coach.

Simon is what one would describe as a utility having played at fullback, centre, stand-off, scrum-half, second row and loose forward! He is an Ireland international.

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

Chester Butler, centre or second row, has been a stand-out performer for Halifax this year which has led to a move to Super League for him next year with Huddersfield. He has been with Halifax (his hometown club) since making his professional début in 2016 although he did play a couple of games with South Wales Scorpions in 2017 on dual registration. In 2017 and 2018 he played for Wales including an appearance in the 2017 World Cup against Papua New Guinea.

Scott Grix, fullback, started as a Halifax player but made his first team début while on loan at Doncaster in 2003. In 2005 he spent a season in France with Limoux. On return he joined Leigh in 2006, moved on to Widnes in 2007 and Wakefield in 2008. Since 2010 he has been a Huddersfield player and younger brother, Simon, brought him back to Halifax in May. He has played for Ireland 16 times.

James Saltonstall, centre or wing, is yet another Halifax born member of the team. He began with Warrington in 2013. In 2014 he had a loan spell at York and then joined Halifax in 2015. In 2011 he played for England Academy and has played for Italy (he has an Italian mother).

Will Sharp, wing or fullback, was born in Nigeria and made his début with London Broncos (then known as Harlequins RL) in 2008. In 2011 he joined Hull FC and then had three years at Fev from 2013 to 2015 moving to Halifax in 2016.

Shaun Robinson, wing, began with Oldham in 2011 and then joined Oxford in 2013. In 2014 he became a Dewsbury player but spent most of the year at Rochdale on loan. In 2015 he moved to Swinton from where he joined Fev last year. He is Halifax’s leading try scorer with 11 tries.

In the halves

Ben Johnston, scrum half, made his début with Castleford in 2012 and also played on loan with York that year. In 2013 he went on loan to both Dewsbury and York and joined Halifax in 2013. He is another Irish international.

Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e is best known as a fullback but since the departure of Ben White to Barrow he has been playing at scrum-half as the regular partner to captain, Scott Murrell, at stand-off. In 2011 he came over from Australia to join Sheffield Eagles and in 2012 scored 35 tries for them. In 2017 he joined Toronto and then in 2018 he started the season with Toronto, moved on to Halifax in April but after 4 games was signed by Castleford. He returned to Halifax at the beginning of this season.

At Hooker

Ben Kaye has been at Halifax since 2014. He started with Leeds in 2008, moved to Harlequins RL in 2009 from where he went on loan to Fev in 2010. That same year he also played for London Skolars on dual reg. In 2011 he became a Fev player where he remained until his move to Halifax. Back in 2007 he played for the England U17 team.

Brandon Moore made his début with Castleford in 2015 and has been a Halifax player since 2016.

In the pack

Ed Barber, second row or loose forward, was born in Halifax and started his professional career with Dewsbury in 2010. In 2011 he played for Western Suburbs in Australia and then came back to Dewsbury in 2012. In 2013 he played Rugby Union, returning to League with Swinton in May 2013. He joined Halifax in 2015.

Daniel Fleming, prop, came through Halifax as a junior but had to wait many years before he made his début for his hometown team. His first professional game was on loan with Rochdale in 2010. In 2013 he joined Castleford and played on dual reg for Batley (2013) and York (2014). In 2015 he joined Bradford and played for Oxford (dual reg - 2015) and Swinton (loan - 2016). In 2017 he became a Toronto player and then (finally!) he re-joined Halifax in 2018. He is a Welsh international.

Ben Kavanagh, prop or second row, has added Super League experience to the front row having played 121 times for Widnes (2008-2015), Wakefield (2015) and Hull Kingston Rovers (2017-2018). In 2016 he played in the Championship with Bradford. He also played on dual reg for Workington in 2013. At representative level he played for England U18s in 2005 and he has played 17 times for Scotland. He joined Halifax this year.

Another international added to the Halifax squad this year is Frenchman Kevin Larroyer, second row, who has played in Super League with Catalans (2012-2013), Hull KR (2014-2015) and Castleford (2017). He played in the Championship with Toulouse in 2010 and 2011. He played on dual reg with Newcastle in 2016 and on loan with Bradford in 2017. He must have bitter memories of a previous game playing for Toulouse against Fev in France in 2011, a game that Fev won 90-10!

Adam Tangata, prop, came to England from Australia to join Halifax in 2015. This year he was signed by Widnes but released when they hit financial problems and re-joined Halifax in April. He is a Cook Islands international.

Dual Registration and Loans

Halifax have dual registration agreements with Castleford and Hunslet this year. Will Maher has played a couple of games for Halifax this year and Mitch Clark played for Halifax last weekend. Will Calcott, Harry Kidd and James Saltonstall and James Woodburn-Hall have played for Hunslet.

They have Liam Cooper on loan from Saint Helens and Scott Grix from Huddersfield.

Conor McGrath is on loan with York and Frazer Morris with Oldham.

The Fev Connection

There are four players  in this year’s Halifax squad who have previously played for Rovers. Ben Kaye was a very popular hooker at Post Office Road for three years. Will Sharp 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! Shaun Robinson moved from Fev to Fax during the off-season. Mitch Clark who played 11 games on loan for Fev last year played on dual reg from Castleford last weekend.

Last year there were 3 players in the Fev squad who had played for Halifax. They have all now left Fev. Richard Moore to Hunslet (now retired), Anthony Thackeray to Sheffield and Sam Brooks to Leigh. Morgan Punchard is the only one of our current squad who has been at Halifax but he never got to play in the first team there.