Whitehaven head coach James Coyle admitted his side 'weren't good enough' as they were beaten 52-6 by Halifax on the opening day of the Championship season.

Haven trailed 24-0 at half-time, conceding four tries in the first half, and Fax crossed the line five more times to top the league after the first round of 2016.

"It's disappointing, but we've got to understand they are a really good side who were on form," Coyle said.

"They were throwing balls out the back door that had no right to stick and everything seemed to stick for them.

"On another day we might have been closer but we weren't good enough.

"We talked about exactly what they would do and you'd think looking at our tip sheet that we'd have written it after the game."

Halifax were leading 18-0 before Steve Tyrer secured his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time to put the hosts four scores ahead.

"It took them out of reach a bit," Coyle continued. "We know what they are about and what they are good at.

"They are quick around the ruck, they have a big pack and they all jump on board when they get ahead.

"In the first half the exchanges in the first 10 minutes were good, I thought we contained them.

"But the difference was the kicking game. They had a big wind behind them and they used it really well to put us under pressure and it took a lot of energy out of us.

"Once we got loose they started to find their way through and we didn't deal with it.

"It's a reality check for us. We have been confident in the build up and the lads were excited going into the game. We know where we are at now."