Grix insists Giants’ player power was right move

The former Ireland captain was part of the player-instigated positional shake-up aimed at ending the club’s dismal recent form.

After senior players urged coach Nathan Brown to make changes, he reverted from stand-off to full-back in yesterday’s semi-final against Warrington Wolves to facilitate loose forward Kevin Brown’s return to a half-back pairing with Danny Brough.

The rare showing of player-power seemingly backfired after Huddersfield lost 33-6 making it eight defeats in their last nine games, questioning whether such a bold change in tactic was wise just days ahead of such a massive contest.

But Grix told the Yorkshire Post: “I think we believed we could win during the week.

“We did make those changes so that a couple of people felt a bit more comfortable in their roles but I don’t think that was the reason we lost.

“We came up against a quality opposition and fell below the mark.

“We had a reasonable start but didn’t back that up and Warrington’s kicking game compared to ours meant their field position was unbelievable.

“It was too big a game to be chasing our tail but that’s what we were doing.”

The ex-Wakefield Trinity player suffered a horrendous night with a couple of crucial handling errors leading to Warrington tries.

However, he insisted he was fine with the reshuffle which saw Greg Eden – one of the finds of the season – surprisingly omitted from the matchday squad.

“It’s not a problem – I do what’s best for the team,” he said. “I’m no stranger to full-back. I’ve been there for a while before.

“But I’m not happy with my performance. I was well below par and added to things too going in at half-time with a couple of drops I made. I will just have to make up for it in other ways because we’re missing out on a Wembley place now and I’m a bit disappointed at the moment.”

Grix, 28, maintains that Huddersfield can recover and still make a press for the Grand Final despite their alarming fall which has seen them plummet from first place to seventh.