Simon Grix on returning to Warrington Wolves with Hull FC

As such, he is not expecting The Wire to take their eye off the ball as he prepares to bring his Hull FC side back to his old stomping ground.

Grix was a key cog in a golden era for Warrington despite his injury struggles, making more than 150 appearances as the team won three Challenge Cups and reached two Super League Grand Finals while he was a part of the squad.

Injury cost him a place in the winning Wembley sides of 2009, 2010 and 2012 but he did start both games at Old Trafford against Leeds in 2012 and Wigan in 2013, scoring a try in the latter.

Simon Grix scores for Warrington against Wigan at Old Trafford in 2013 (Image: SWPix.com)

Now, he is tasked with putting a further dent in his old side’s bid to return to the Theatre of Dreams as the Black and Whites’ interim head coach having replaced Tony Smith, his old boss at Warrington under whom he had been working as an assistant coach at the MKM Stadium.

The Wire have a huge month ahead, with Super League games against Hull KR, Catalans and Wigan alongside the Challenge Cup semi-final against Huddersfield, where victory would take them to Wembley on June 8.

However, Grix is certain Sam Burgess and his players will not be looking beyond his side.

“I was fortunate enough to play for Warrington, and every game is a big game at Warrington,” he said.

“Back-to-back losses are a “no-no” – any loss is a “no-no” really.

“They’ve got a great roster there and they are set up for success, so there’s pressure every week there but they handle it pretty well for the most part.

“They won’t be overlooking us and thinking about games coming up.

“If you look back throughout history, most teams have found that if you take your foot off a little bit and take your eye off the ball, you’re not going to be at your best.

“We’ll expect the best Warrington you can predict and we’ll try and bring our best.”

This will be Hull’s second visit to The Halliwell Jones Stadium of the year having lost 36-10 in Round Two in a game best remembered for the highly controversial sending-off of Nu Brown following an accidental clash of heads with Ben Currie.

Grix believes not much has changed about The Wire since that night in terms of what he expects to be thrown at them but warned his players they must be prepared to “roll their sleeves up” if they are to stand any chance of ending a run of seven consecutive defeats.

The Round Two meeting between Warrington and Hull FC became infamous for Nu Brown's highly controversial red card following a clash of heads with Ben Currie (Image: Mike Boden)

“It was a funny game,” he said, recalling February’s game.

“Our effort was good in that game and there was some good stuff that came out of it.

“I think we’ve changed quite a bit but I don’t think Warrington have changed too much – George Williams didn’t play that game and there may be a couple of other changes around that.

“Watching Warrington, they are a dangerous team.

“They play their way, they back their way and stick at it so I don’t think we have to prepare ourselves for some freakish play.

“hey’re going to play a tough game and they’ve changed their mindset from doing the pretty stuff to putting you in corners and making life hard for you.

“It’s a “roll your sleeves up” kind of night – if we don’t, it will be a tough night but it’s definitely a challenge we’re looking forward to.”