The 2020 season was always going to be a testing one for Salford Red Devils. Amid the now annual high turnover of players at the AJ Bell Stadium few expected them to match their 2019 heroics when they went all the way to Old Trafford before losing to Saints in the Grand Final.
It’s fair to say Salford did not hit those heights in the bread and butter business of Super League last time around. They finished a disappointing ninth once three of their eight wins had been deducted for some highly complex financial chicanery. Yet even with those wins the Red Devils would have only managed to finish 7th. After almost shocking the rugby league world in 2019 Ian Watson’s side deservedly missed out on the playoffs in 2020.
The heroics were reserved for the Challenge Cup. Dan Sarginson scored a golden point try to take Salford past Catalans Dragons in the quarter finals. In the last four the Red Devils edged out the more fancied Warrington Wolves 24-22 to set up a unique, October Challenge Cup final behind closed Wembley doors. Agonisingly, Salford were edged out 17-16 by Leeds Rhinos. Yet in reaching two major finals in two years Salford under Watson had shaken off their tag of perennial strugglers and morphed into trophy contenders. Only Saints have reached more finals over the past two seasons.
But Salford’s future is one without Watson. Sooner or later other suitors were going to start noticing his uncanny knack of turning a team of apparent journeymen and misfits into something cohesive and formidable. That suitor is Huddersfield Giants, sleeping like the cliche of their nickname since winning the League Leaders Shield in 2013. Richard Marshall comes in to replace Watson as head coach at the AJ Bell, fresh from assisting both Justin Holbrook and Kristian Woolf to back-to-back Grand Final successes with Saints. It is not Marshall’s first head coaching job. He coached Halifax to three top four Championship finishes between 2015-19. Yet it is the first time he has had the reins at a Super League club, and one whose expectations might be markedly different from what they would have been two years ago.
Those expectations might be tempered a little by another off season of change to the playing roster. It seems the better Salford fare the more likely it is that their players will move on. Even in a salary capped sport a club which was averaging attendances of only just over 4,000 when the pandemic hit is at a financial disadvantage to some of its better supported rivals.
Perhaps the biggest loss from the 2020 squad is Niall Evalds. The 27 year-old Yorkshire native heads back east of the Pennines to Castleford Tigers after eight seasons at Salford. During that time he has become a key factor in Salford’s rise, scoring 101 tries in 146 appearances from fullback. His eye for a break and ability to support the ball carrier should make him a perfect fit for the Tigers’ style but leaves a hole for Marshall to fill. Morgan Escare arrives from Wigan where he was limited to 77 appearances in a four-year spell having made 91 for Catalans over a similar period prior to that. The 29 year-old has speed and kicks goals (though good luck ousting the excellent Krisnan Inu from that responsibility) but may not be as defensively reliable as Evalds.
Gil Dudson’s career wasn’t really going anywhere until he got to Salford. Yet now, as he makes the switch to Catalans Dragons, Dudson is a significant loss to the pack. He reinvented himself under Watson after never quite convincing during spells with Wigan and Widnes in the first half of his career. He made 46 appearances for Salford after joining in 2019 and was an integral part of their run to both major finals in the space of 12 months. Along the way he has made 15 appearances for Wales.
Replacing Dudson in Salford’s prop forward corps is former Toronto Wolfpack man Darcy Lussick. He just misses out on teaming up with brother Joey who leaves Salford after two and a half years to join Parramatta Eels in the NRL. Darcy brings with him experience of 118 NRL appearances in two spells with Manly either side of a stint with the Eels. At 31 he still has a few good years in him and could be a solid acquisition.
One of the more exciting signings for Salford fans has to be that of Joe Burgess. Unfortunately the former Wigan winger will miss the start of the season with an ankle injury. If it requires surgery Burgess could be out for up to 12 weeks. Yet when they get him on the park Salford have found themselves a prolific try-scorer with the kind of pace that worries defences at any level. Burgess ran in 101 tries in his two spells at Wigan, and also impressed with five tries in nine appearances for South Sydney Rabbitohs before deciding to cut short his NRL experiment and return to Wigan. He has three England caps and - at 26 - the potential for more once he gets a run in the Red Devils side.
Another player of great potential is Harvey Livett. Capable in the back row or at stand-off, Livett’s career has stalled a little since being loaned out to Hull KR from Warrington in 2019. Yet he had shown enough by then to earn England Knights representative honours in 2018. A move to Salford where regular action should be easier to come by could provide Livett with the impetus he needs to get his career going again.
Also looking for a fresh start will be Matty Costello and Jack Wells. Costello was once the understudy to Mark Percival and Kevin Naiqama at Saints but had fallen down the pecking order since the emergence of Jack Welsby and Josh Simm. He will hope that teaming up again with Marshall will help him cement more regular playing time. With Burgess out early on there might be an opportunity for Costello to get into that three-quarter line though when everyone is fit again he faces tough competition not only from Burgess but also Inu, Sarginson, Kallum Watkins, Rhys Williams and Ken Sio.
Wells suffered a bad injury during Wigan’s 42-0 shellacking by Saints at the end of September but will hope to break into a Red Devils back row that has lost the likes of Mark Flanagan (retirement) and the released Tyrone McCarthy but also added Livett and Danny Addy from Leigh. Former Bradford and Huddersfield man Oliver Roberts is another option in that area having extended his loan deal from the Giants for the whole of 2021.
The back row is likely to be much changed with the new additions while up front they will need Lussick to have an impact if they are not to rely too heavily on the enigma that is Pauli Pauli, the inconsistent Sebastine Ikahihifo and the 32 year-old Lee Mossop. Meanwhile adding to the array of talent across the three-quarter line the Red Devils have creativity in midfield through veteran Kevin Brown and the always exciting Tui Lolohea. What happens when Brown suffers the inevitable string of injuries is less certain, though Dec Patton has arrived from Warrington where he has often proved a more than able deputy without ever convincing Steve Price that he should be the main man. Both Addy and Livett can fill in at either of the halfback positions in an emergency.
As always for the clubs with loser budgets getting their best team on the park consistently will be key. Brown and Lolohea are central to that but a backline of Escare, Sio, Sarginson, Watkins and Inu compares favourably with most. It’s up front where Marshall doesn’t seem to have the same kind of depth at his disposal. The trouble is that is exactly where games are so often won or lost.
A good start is always helpful so Marshall could have had a kinder opener than a meeting with Saints at Headingley in the opening round. After that it’s a Hull FC side looking to finally fulfil its potential under Brett Hodgson, a meeting with Catalans Dragons in Round 3, new boys Leigh in Round 4 and Castleford in Round 5. Salford will hope their end of season run-in will form part of the playoff conversation. The Dragons, Hull, Tigers and Saints all feature again in Salford’s final five with Warrington Wolves the other late season test.
We’ve come to expect the unexpected with Salford over the last two seasons but if you were to ask Marshall he might consider a year of unspectacular consolidation to be a success. The most intriguing aspect of Salford’s journey will be finding out how many of these players are genuinely good enough to form a consistent side and how far they were elevated by Watson’s wizardry in the coaching department. Top six is possible, but far from expected.
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