SCOTT GRIX insists there will be no family favouritism when he comes face to face with younger brother Simon in the opening match of the Magic Weekend in Cardiff.
Scott’s Giants kick off the two-day extravaganza against Simon’s Warrington Wolves in a re-match of the 2009 Challenge Cup final, the first of seven matches inside 30 hours at the Millennium Stadium.
It will be only the second meeting of the Halifax-born brothers, who both missed the last clash in September for contrasting reasons.
Scott was unable to get into the Giants team while Simon was suffering from viral pneumonia and spent a week in intensive care.
"It was pretty serious," acknowledged Scott. "He was a few days from not being here maybe.
"He’s raring to go after missing out on the run-in and because of a shoulder injury he also most missed out on Wembley. It seems to happen to him but he’s had a real good pre-season and he’s ready to go.
"For whatever reason, we always seemed to miss out on playing against each other but the one that we did get was the Challenge Cup game at the Galpharm and they smashed us by 60 so he’s one up on me at the minute."
Scott was on the bench for that only previous meeting with Simon, a 60-4 fifth-round rout last May, but he is likely to be in the thick of the action today after being handed the full-back role made vacant by skipper Brett Hodgson’s move to Warrington.
Hodgson, who kicked six goals when Huddersfield knocked Warrington out of the play-offs in September, will make his competitive debut for Tony Smith’s men, alongside the club’s other close-season recruit Joel Monaghan.
Smith, who coached Huddersfield from 2000-2003, is excited about the start of the new season and in particular the idea of all 14 clubs playing at the same venue.
"We are very proud to be the first game of the weekend," said Smith. "It should be a great game against Huddersfield. We’ve had some good matches with them over the last couple of years and built up a good rivalry.
"They are a very good team and we know that we have to play well in order to compete with Huddersfield on their day.
"We are very excited about the game and are looking forward to it. It’s a great atmosphere down there. It’s a unique situation where all games are on in one weekend. It’s a real feast of rugby."
The opening fixture kicks off at 1pm and will be followed two hours later by Harlequins against Catalans Dragons. It’s then the West Yorkshire derby between Wakefield and Castleford, followed at 7pm by the Grand-Final re-match between Wigan and St Helens.
