Awarded a Testimonial at Halifax

It's obviously a massive honour to be granted a testimonial year by the Rugby Football League. I think 11 years service at one club shows loyalty and commitment from both parties. And with Halifax being my home town club, it means a bit more than it would if it was anywhere else.

We've had a good start to this year so far so hopefully we can continue that for the rest of the year, and people can get on board with my testimonial and support it where they can.

When I joined the club, I'd just turned 21. I think when I first came, at the time I thought I might come for a year or two and then go back to full time rugby. I always backed my ability and thought I was good enough to play at a higher level after coming through the system at Warrington.

But I think after I got here, obviously it's my hometown club, we had a good few years when the middle 8s was around and I just enjoyed playing here and got settled. I had a job and career outside of Rugby, I'd just bought my first house and it would've been a big change to go back to full time. I had a few options but I decided that in the longer term, it was better for me to stay somewhere that I wanted to play and progress in my career away from the game as well as for Halifax. As the rest is obviously history.

Favourite Halifax Moments and Teammates

I've been a Halifax fan all my life, my dad used to take me to Thrum Hall when I was really young. He told me I was ran across the pitch at half time and someone had to come and bring me back. And then I'd come down to The Shay with my dad and sit in the Skircoat Stand and watch the games, before I went on to become a ball boy at 10.

So the club has been a big part of my life and representing them was something I was always destined to do. I've had some great times at the club obviously, and met some great people and teammates through the years.

When I look back at my Halifax career, and some of the players I enjoyed playing with.

Back in the early days, I was good mates with Jonno (Ben Johnston). We had some good trips over to Toulouse and down to Cheltenham race course over the years that I don't really remember much of [laughs] but they were different times. Obviously, we had Muzza (Scott Murrell) who was a great player but just as great a bloke off the field as well. He was the life and soul of the club.

Ben Kaye, Steve Tyrer, Big Mitch Cahalane from Aus, Ben Heaton, Kevin Larroyer, Ben Kavanagh, Will Sharp, Brandon Moore, and people like that, they were great characters as well.

Obviously, we've still got Bob Fairbank and Adzy Tangata now. They've been good friends since the early days. You forget over the years how many people you actually play with because teams split up year on year, people move on but those are some of the lads I've enjoyed playing with the most.

When talking about the games and moments though, there's a fair few that spring to mind.

Barrow away on a Monday night when we went down to 11 men. Long journey up to Cumbria, Greg and Titus both got sent off, 13 against 11 and we still ended up scoring more points going uphill as well. We all dug in for each other, that was a great day.

Obviously, Toronto away, that was a really good experience and a good trip. It was gutting what happened with that club, it would've been good to grow the game and would've been a success I think. It was a great place to go and play, good crowds, good city to go and visit. And then we had a good few days out after the game which obviously helps you remember it as a good memory.

A lot of people talk about Wembley but I think beating London away in the semi final, that was probably bigger than the final itself. They went on to get promoted to Super League that year, we hadn't won there in 20 years and they were a tough team to beat on their own patch. That was a tough, nervy game but we managed to get the job done.

I always enjoyed the middle 8s games against Super League teams, but the one where we put 50 odd points on Bradford last game of the season in 2015, that was a really good way to finish my first year at the club.

There was a Summer Bash where we went and beat Fev 37-0 at Blackpool one year, we absolutely battered them. Then the other one where we were losing 18-4 against Fev again and Jonno and Muzza scored to win it late on and he got his belly out in front of the fans. That was a good one.

I've been lucky enough to score a few match winners in Bradford Derbies at The Shay over the years as well which is always nice. And then the one last year against the Bulls to confirm our Championship status after the season we'd had, it ended up being a really important try for a club I've been at for a long time and that I love.

Testimonial Plans and Events

We've had some great events already for my testimonial year. We had a launch night at The Shay, we had a race night at King Cross Park in April which went really well. We launched a shirt and other merch which has gone down really well, so we're off to a good start.

My next event coming up is on Sunday 1st June, we've got a cricket match up at Outlane Cricket Club. There's going to be a few current faces and a few old faces turning out and playing, it'll be the T20 format which will start around 1:30pm.

Saturday 21st June there's going to be 'An Evening With' event. We've already got Scott Murrell and Leon Pryce confirmed, we're going to get a third guest to go with them as well. Details of that will be released soon.

After that, we're gonna have a family fun day at King Cross Park in August. There's going to be live music, bouncy castles for the kids, just a good fun family day out. Hopefully everybody can get involved and tickets for that will be going out shortly.

We've got a golf day on Friday 22nd August and then a Testimonial Dinner on 22nd November as well, that will be kind of my closing dinner but obviously, I'm still planning on having a game next pre season as the Warrington one this year was cancelled due to the weather. So there's plenty coming up.

Hopefully people can come out and support wherever they can. I just want to thank all those that have supported me so far, from my family to my committee and all my sponsors, and to Elite Thermal Insulations who have sponsored my testimonial year as well. Your support is greatly appreciated.

If you want to learn more about what's coming up in James Saltonstall's Testimonial Year, click here to visit the official facebook page

HALIFAX INDEPENDENT SUPPORTERS UPDATE

The Trust will be at the game today presenting the club with a cheque for £5000. It is again with your help and support that we are able to do this via our membership, stalls and attending our events. 

Last season, we were proud sponsors of Halifax Panthers Wheelchair Rugby League and England wheelchair player, Robert Hawkins. On Good Friday, he presented us with his playing shirt. We can't wait to see him in action again this year and wish him and the rest of the team, all the very best.

This is all due to your fantastic support and as we are very very low on matchday merchandise, have you any preloved merchandise that you can donate? 

 We can collect items if local or bring to one of our stalls on matchdays. 

 Thank You All once again for Your Support

The Fax Trust