TONY Smith revealed Simon Grix would have been a contender for the club's captaincy this year had the back rower been available.

The 30-year-old, who has not played since his leg fracture at St Helens 16 months ago, is hoping to make his comeback with hometown club Halifax in the Championship this year.

"We've missed Simon," said Wolves' head of coaching and rugby Smith as he reflected on the win against Leigh in Grix's Testimonial match.

"We've missed having Simon's toughness and his rugby league nous.

"You can tell him and his brother Scott (Huddersfield player) played in the back yard when growing up. He gets it, he knows how to play footy and we've needed some of that. We've missed some of his brains.

"I think we have all appreciated his toughness and how much he plays above his weight, but we've missed some of his smart play and some of his leadership.

"Simon was a potential captain for this club. He still has ambitions to play and if he ever gets back to that sort of level I'll have him back here at the drop of a hat.

"He's had aspirations to be a captain of this club. He's been a leader within the club for some time. Had be been physically able to play this year, start the year and to know that we had him for a full year, it would have been hard for me to go against him being possible captain.

"I'm not taking anything away from Hilly. Chris Hill is going to make a terrific captain as well, but Simon would potentially have been one of those people considered highly."

Smith reflected on Grix's time with Wolves so far.

"A lot of people have talked about the injuries that he's had and he has been unfortunate at different stages, but he's had a fantastic career," said Smith.

"He's been a very good rugby league player for a number of years. Don't worry about what he hasn't been able to do or the games he hasn't been able to compete in, when he has competed he has been terrific on almost every occasion. I rarely saw him play badly and that's a compliment not many players can get."

And Smith highlighted how Grix's approach to his work with Wolves will benefit the club this year and in the future.

"His legacy is going to be long at this club. For all the players that played with him, and been around him and watched him, he's been a fantastic role model.

"That's professionally in the way he's gone about his business and the way he's handled some of his disappointments.

"He's set the standards for a lot of other people.

"He's contributed a whole lot to this club and he's doing it in other ways now, mainly in the gym. The way he is going about his coaching is fantastic and we're really privileged to have him."