Simon Grix has reflected on the Black & Whites’ final outing of the 2024 season, with his young side going down to the Dragons at the MKM Stadium.
It was an emotional afternoon in West Hull as the Black & Whites bid farewell to Danny Houghton and Carlos Tuimavave, while young pair Ryan Westerman and Callum Kemp made their senior debuts.
Reflecting on Houghton’s performance, and his contribution to the club as a whole, Grix said: “Mint has been unreal. Today in his last game, look, he’s not what he once was; he’s not got the pace he once had, and his body is letting him down, but he still influenced the game.
“He came up with some big plays, and all of those little bits that experience gets you. We’ll certainly miss that experience from Danny next year, but hopefully he won’t be too far away.
“The plan is for him to stay. There’s a bit to work through and see how that looks, but I’m a big advocate for having people who know your club, and keeping them around is big. People have to add value, and the Mint that I’ve come to know, we’ve got on great, and the bloke has plenty to offer this club still. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we have something nailed with Danny.”
In a passing of the torch moment as Houghton and Tuimavave depart the club, Saturday saw senior debuts for academy starlets Ryan Westerman and Callum Kemp – both of whom held their own at the MKM Stadium.
“Callum was 18 earlier this week. He’s a twin, and his brother Lloyd is a good player as well. He’s a young half-back, he knows what he is already; he’s not lightning quick, but he knows how to play straight and organise, and he came up with some really good touches.
“He’s someone who has got a bright future, and he’s started well. He’s got an old half who is quite similar coming to the club in Aidan Sezer, which will benefit him massively if he taps into that.
“Ryan is another one. He’s good pals with Charlesy (Jack Charles) and it’s been difficult for him to see his mate playing and not getting a runout himself, but he showed what he’s got out there. He’s a classy player. He’s got a lot to learn on both sides of the ball, but his game came to play. I didn’t think he looked out of place at all.”
Grix continued: “They’ve both had great years in the academy. I dare say Callum may have played sooner, and the same goes for Ryan as well, but in among all of this and what’s been going on around them, it’s been a difficult decision.
“We’ve had to play people out of having a lack of choices for the most part, but we’ve really made an effort to try and keep those lads away from it. Your debut is supposed to be a nice day where a lot of older blokes will look after you and show you the way. Unfortunately, we haven’t had that for a lot of our lads this year, and we’ve tried to shield them from it.”
In a touching moment, Westerman and Camp were presented with their debut jerseys by Tuimavave and Houghton, with Grix adding: “We did that earlier in the week, which was a nice touch—a passing of the torch, if you like. They weren’t overly emotional. Callum, in particular, he’s an Iceman; that’s when I told him he was playing and he went, ‘Okay, no worries.’
“He didn’t give too much away, but I know it means a lot to them for Danny and Carlos to present their shirts. These blokes have been their ideals growing up. For Ryan, a centre, Carlos has been his ideal. For Callum, a pivot type player, Danny has been his.
“Those young kids, they’re 18, so they’ve seen all of Danny’s career. They were born at the start of it, and they took in a lot of those good years, so it’s been a nice experience for them this week. Hopefully, they can carry it forward.”
“We made a bit of a deal this week in trying to send those blokes off in the right fashion, but also making sure that the start of a new journey for your Callum Kemp’s, Ryan Westerman’s, starts in good fashion. Everyone had a responsibility to give their best in that.
“We know we haven’t been able to compete with teams in a lot of areas, but competing with ourselves on the effort stuff, we didn’t disappoint in that regard. The young lads had a part in that. They pulled the trigger and they threw the ball around. Maybe at times, older players who have seen a bit more could have pulled it in, but we felt like we could have won that game which is a far cry from where we’ve been over the last couple of weeks.
“The first half, we were good, but we gave away six penalties which pulled them to our line, and then you get a Big Chris vs. Young Moy and Kemp on our tryline. He does that to grown men, big men, as well but he picked his target well there. But they did themselves proud and they came off with their heads held high. That’s what we asked for earlier in the week.”
Simon Grix is proudly sponsored by Rowe Freight.
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