Cullen praises Grix contribution

2:16am Friday 16th May 2008

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PAUL Cullen has reserved praise for Simon Grix after the former Halifax man scored a try on his return from injury at St Helens on Saturday.

Grix had been absent since sustaining an ankle injury at Hull KR in February but was selected as a substitute hooker for the cup clash before injuries meant he had to fill in on the right wing.

It was a largely unfamiliar position for Grix, who has mainly featured at loose forward and stand off during his time with Wolves, but he fared well and beat three defenders to score a late try at Knowsley Road.

Cullen said: Unfortunately we lost Chris Riley and ending up playing Simon Grix on the right wing, who scored a fantastic try and that needs to be acknowledged.

"At that point we had Vinnie Anderson at right centre and Simon Grix on the right wing and still we were able to finish the game with two very good scores on the right-hand side of the field.

"Lee Briers and Benny Westwood were the two constants on that right edge and we did very well to keep banging away until the death."

Wolves will have a change of full back in the absence of Stuart Reardon and Chris Bridge but Cullen hinted that Chris Hicks and Chris Riley may share the duties.

He said: "There's no real need for me to make any statement on that because we will pick players to suit certain games.

"Chris Hicks has played very well at full back and we actually played with three full backs during the game because not only did we lose Stuart Reardon but we then lost Chris Riley as well. I thought Chris Riley was going very well.

"Because we lost Martin Gleeson I was very keen to keep that right side combination together because we were making breaks scoring tries and defending very well on the right-hand side."