Hull FC’s first-team squad are back at training for end-of-season testing this Thursday and Friday, with Simon Grix and his coaching staff also conducting their reviews. That review will coincide with new head coach, John Cartwright, who will touch base with his players via video call before arriving in the U.K. later next month.

Grix, meanwhile, has also confirmed the coaching staff will conduct their own reviews, with the interim coach, who will now step back to his original assistant coach role, conceding he hasn’t 'given the best' of himself this year and that he 'can be better.'

Finishing joint bottom after a season that brought just three wins and 25 defeats, Grix is hoping that sort of attitude is collective, with no finger pointing and accountability instead taken collectively across the board.

"The review is a tricky one," Grix, speaking after Hull’s final game of the year last Saturday, said. "As a staff, we'll be doing a review for ourselves as well. We can give a bit of a review to players and we’ll invite everyone to have a good look at themselves.

"It's easy looking out and pointing elsewhere, saying, 'We haven't got this right and the club haven't got this right,' but there's bits in and amongst this where everyone could have given a little bit more and given a little bit more. It starts with the man in the mirror first.

"That's not me passing it on, I've not given the best of myself this year, there's been a lot going on, and I know I can be better and bring more. Hopefully, everybody has got that approach moving into the off-season."

Taking charge of the first-team after Tony Smith’s departure in April, Grix had 21 games in his interim role in what has been one of the toughest years in Hull's entire history. Around him, an abundance of change was occurring, with a new director of rugby brought to the club in Richie Myler and a huge swing of player turnover all making for a difficult scenario.

But in fronting up every week, the 38-year-old has learned plenty about people’s character and the like, while progressing the likes of Logan Moy, Lewis Martin, and Harvey Barron, all of whom excelled in the second half of the season, working together and buying into the things instructed of them.

He continued: "Being in front of a camera, I don't like it. I don't think many people do; to be honest, well, some do, but it's not one of the highlights, and it's particularly difficult in a difficult year where a lot of questions are posed at one person where there's a lot of people contributing to our situation.

"There will be bits I won't miss and bits I will, but I've learned plenty, really, about people, how they react to adversity, and when you think they might fight, some freeze, or some might back away from it. It's been really interesting working people out, but we've made some progress with some important bits, those young lads. I've said it before: Lewis, Harvey, Logan, our back three, working out how they can influence a game. We've brought them on leaps and bounds over the course of the year, which is something I'm pretty proud of.

"In a year where there haven't been many bright spots, I think those young lads have stood up. They've still got a lot in front of them. We've not seen the best of them, and we've not seen them take to the field yet in a team full of men all pulling in one direction. We'll see another level from them when they get another opportunity to do that."

Now set to work alongside Cartwright, not to mention the returning Andy Last, Grix is looking forward to a brighter future. He added: "I don't think I'll experience these circumstances ever again. I want to be a head coach, but I didn't ask to be in this role. I expected to come and sit underneath Tony and watch him work on what we all thought was going to be a five-year swing. It might still be, or it might be sooner, but a lot has changed.

"It's been a tough old year, but I'm a big boy, and I've been through worse stuff in life. Rugby, in the end, is a sport that means a lot to a lot of people, but it's not life-and-death stuff. I know I'm resilient, and I can put up with this. I can do all that. As I say, I've probably learned more about people, different types of people, and how they can affect your environment. That's probably what I've learned a lot about, what to look out for and what you need to nip off straight away. There's certainly been some little bits put in the little black book, and while being a head coach is the end goal, being an assistant isn't too bad."

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