‘I just need to get on with my job’
SIMON GRIX SHARES STANCE ON HULL FC FUTURE AND JOHN CARTWRIGHT APPOINTMENT
SIMON Grix has reaffirmed his commitment to Hull FC despite missing out on the head coach position on a permanent basis.
Grix has been in interim charge of the Black and Whites for the last four games, having signed a twoyear deal as an assistant coach ahead of this season.
And while he was a candidate for the head coach position, which has been appointed to John Cartwright for the 2025 season and beyond, Grix is now ready to continue to learn his craft under another experienced coach, with the ambition still to be a head coach one day.
Asked about his future at the club during his pre-match press conference, Grix said: “I signed for two years, and I’ll still be here. We’ll see how everything plays out.
The coach is over the line, and there’s a lot of track still to go, but I don’t expect to be going anywhere soon.
“I came to Hull to work with an experienced coach. That didn’t pan out, but not everything goes to plan, does it? But yeah, the opportunity to work with an experienced head coach is what I came for in the first place to prepare me for hopefully one day doing the job here or somewhere else.
“Just learning, watching someone in close quarters, and having that day-to-day critique and effort to get better—i’ll definitely tap into all that in the off-season. I picked up plenty from Tony (Smith) in a short period of time, and I’ll pick up plenty from John as well.”
Grix continued: “I’ve got a desire to be a head coach, and we have had those conversations. The hands-on bit—i still really want to do that, and when you get older and more senior, it becomes more about the leadership and management side of things.
“I’m enjoying what I’m doing, and nothing has really changed too much (since stepping up as interim) apart from having a stronger say in the team. I’m not disappointed. I hope to be a head coach at some point in the future. I want to be in the game for a long time, and I just need to get on with my job as I have been doing.”
And as for the new appointment, Grix is backing Cartwright to be a success at Hull. The 58-year-old has signed a three-year deal from 2025 with the desire to create a ‘fit and hungry’ squad.
“It’s positive,” Grix said. “John has got a wealth of experience behind him, and that was the thought from the off, I think, to get an experienced coach in, and they’ve landed that.
“His leadership is something
that will help a young and changing squad. He’s coached at a lot of clubs and has sampled a lot of different ways of doing things. He’d have picked up loads on that journey. Brisbane are also one of the strongest clubs in that competition at the moment, so all those experiences and connections around the game over there will be beneficial for us.”
Grix also sees no issues with Cartwright’s long history as an assistant coach, with the Aussie stepping into a head coach role for the first time since leaving Gold Coast Titans in 2014.
“Coaching is coaching,” Grix added. “You pick up a lot, regardless of your role, just from being in and around it. He’s got the experience from doing it, and then he’s assisted other people to do their job. His experience is his experience, whichever way you pick it up. He’ll be really good for us.”