Loyal players make any club happy and the Huddersfield Giants have re-signed veteran fullback Scott Grix on a new 2-year deal.
The 30-year-old has played in 150 games for the club and has become a mainstay of their roster, with the club praising his work-rate and professionalism as a player especially.
“Scott Grix is an outstanding professional player and personâ€, said Giants Managing Director Richard Thewlis.
“He is a vastly experienced full back and very popular member of the squad where his value is hugely appreciated.
He has made the full back shirt his own specialist position after spending a lot of time demonstrating his utility value to us and his previous clubs and it is a mark of his patience, ability and perseverance I believe that his career has really blossomed towards the latter end of it.”
At 30, Grix is considered a leader of the team and with a lot of younger players coming through, he is a perfect mentor for those talented kids coming through the ranks.
“He is a superb role model for our younger guys – some of whom he knows will be eyeing him and others in the backline up for starting slots next year and I think that competition is something that is good for our club,” said Thewlis.
“We are always talking here of players that have experienced and succeeded in big games as being the types we want in claret and gold and for Grixy, few could argue that his try last season away at the Wigan Warriors was a defining moment in our modern day history, a truly memorable moment and the sort of memory that he and his team mates here are very capable of building upon.”
For the man himself, he is just pleased to have his future sorted. Heading into his fifth year with the club, Grix knows how far the club has come as individuals and as a unit both on and off the field.
“I’m really pleased to sign a new deal, it’s my fifth year at the Giants and to extend it by another couple and continue to be around my team mates is great news,” said Grix.
“There is a big core of local boys that have been here throughout my Giants career and the time has certainly flown by with the same faces and that consistency is good for me and good for the club going forward.
“Over my time here, we have made great strides as individuals, as a team and as a club and I’m pleased that I can continue to be a part of this development with us looking to continue to improve.”
With the youngsters coming through, Grix hopes his experience as a player can help those coming through to be molded into future potential stars through guidance.
“It is always tough to back that next one up but that’s what a champion team does and we didn’t come to terms with that at the start of the season,” said Grix.
“We have started to ‘hit our straps’ lately and we now know what it is like to be around the business end of the year, what frame of mind you need to be in and as a group we are a year further down the line now and hopefully a year stronger when it comes to the back end.
“There are more and more youngsters coming through from the junior set up and I like to think that I am reasonably experienced and try and be as consistent as I can be, so if I can help or rub off on them in any way at all, hopefully it can be of benefit to them and the club.
Equally pleased to see the veteran remain is Giants coach Paul Anderson, who has seen first-hand the level of consistency that the fullback has achieved.
“Scott is a vital part of what we do and he’s a player who has managed to find a real high level of consistency in his game over the last two years,” said Anderson.
“One of the reasons he has got to that level is that he is very, very consistent in training as well.
“He is a player that did it tough in the early part of his career, been here and there, but he’s found himself a home here and he is a good role model for our younger players at the club as he is the first on the training field and the last to leave.
“It is the example that he sets with the things he does pre and post training as he is very meticulous in his approach and turns up with a good attitude to play well.
“He is a very smart player, a very consistent player and a very good player for us.