Croft’s purely feeling poorly

SALFORD boss Paul Rowley revealed sickly Brodie Croft has played nearly all their games this season feeling anything but a Man of Steel.

The ever-present Aussie stand-off (inset) scored the Red Devils’ first try in Thursday’s 14-6 win against Castleford.

But he came off in the 77th minute, prompting fears from Salford fans about the fitness of Super League’s top-rated player in 2022.

However, Rowley explained he was simply under the weather – as he has been for most of their nine fixtures so far.

He said: “Brodie’s been ill all week. He’s actually only played two games this year where he’s not been poorly.

“He’s had one thing into another.

“You know where you go through those periods where you seem to be catching everything?

“He’s got a new child and his other child’s getting a little bit older, getting in and around nursery. “So he’s catching everything and we hadn’t seen Brodie all week.

“This was the first time he’d stepped up. “We pumped him full of antibiotics, so I thought I’d give him three minutes rest!” After helping them pick up a fifth win of the season, Salford are hoping the ex-Melbourne ace will be fit and firing for next Sunday’s visit of Catalans. Rowley added: “It’s been a mixture of everything – the kids, the weather… “We’ve got a weekend off now so we will start our training on Tuesday. “I’m hoping he can get some good rest. “There’s more to come from Brodie and from the team.” Danny Addy is a doubt to face Catalans after coming off early against Cas with a hamstring issue.