SIMON Grix admits the arrival of some high profile new faces at The Halliwell Jones Stadium next season is exciting the Warrington Wolves fan in him.

Wolves have already announced Fiji skipper Ashton Sims will arrive from the NRL, as well as exciting young hooker Daryl Clark from Super League rivals Castleford Tigers.

And, having spent nine years at the club, Grix enjoys seeing Wolves progressing both as a player and a fan.

“For us who have been here a long time we’re fans of Warrington as well, we’re not just players so it’s exciting,” he explained.

“I’ve played against Daryl and he’s a good player. I do believe playing for us he’ll make some big progressions and I think he’s going to go on and do real well in the game regardless of coming to Warrington – but I’m glad he’s going to come and do it here.

“Sims, I’ve seen him play, big, aggressive, confrontational, the kind of forward I think will fit really well.”

The second-rower has suffered a frustrating season, with injuries seeing him sidelined for long periods, but he is enjoying the healthy competition among the squad.

“It would be nice to be fit all year,” he said. “It’s been a frustrating year personally injury-wise, in and out, but if you want to be fit at the right time this is it.

“I don’t feel too bad, there’s always improvement there. In this game, in this team somebody comes in and does a job.

“So as soon as you’re back you have to be near your best or you’re not going to get in, but I think I’ve managed to do that each time.”

The 28-year-old is also impressed with the progression among the forwards breaking onto the scene this year.

“This year we’ve made some progression with lads,” he added. “We’ve brought Anthony England through and he’s done really well.

“Ben Evans, James Laithwaite and a couple of the young lads have played, particularly in the forwards, there is a lot of competition there.

“So it’s been a year to be on your toes. Signings coming in, like Anthony England, young lads coming through, it’s been good in that sense.”

And Grix believes Wolves’ forwards are willing to help each to reach their potential.

“Everyone is respectful with it, they understand where if I get picked and you don’t, I know how you might be feeling,” he said.

“Generally if someone’s struggling with something you can help, no matter if they’re playing in your position or not you should be doing it.”

But the former Halifax man insists, with the play-offs looming, now is the time to start getting things right on the field.

“I’ve got quite good at watching,” Grix added. “It’s been a year for progression. There has been some positive progression and some forced.

“Players have aged and moved on and that’s how it works. On the field we haven’t been perfect in long periods, the changes we had were always going to affect our season this year. We’re coming to terms with them and coming out the other side.

“You want the home game (in the play-offs), but we’ll finish where we deserve to finish. We’ll look at Saints and then we’ll look at Wigan, but that table will tell us where we are and who we’ve got.

“If you lose a game and you play poorly that’d be the nightmare, if you lose and you play well you can still take something from it.

“These games coming up and Huddersfield just gone are the kind of games you want to be playing to get you in the right shape and right intensity for the play-off time.”