Niall keeps his place for Hull clash
NIALL Evalds will continue in his favoured fullback position in Salford’s first fixture since the departure of Gareth O’Brien, who was sold to Toronto Wolfpack earlier in the week.
The Red Devils welcome Challenge Cup holders Hull FC to the AJ Bell Stadium tonight with the club still on the hunt for reinforcements, but there are minimal changes to Ian Watson’s 19-man squad for this fixture.
Fan-favourite forward Craig Kopczak missed the defeat at Castleford Tigers on Sunday, but returns at the expense of George Griffin. While O’Brien took no part in that match, he was named in the initial travelling squad so his place is taken by Derrell Olpherts, who would make his Betfred Super League debut if he was to feature.
Million Pound Game hero O’Brien has somewhat contradicted the Salford statement on his departure in his first interview with Toronto’s Wolfpack TV outlet.
The club said they had rejected an offer from the Transatlantic side and the player had indicated he had no desire to move, before his representatives returned the next day and requested permission to speak to Paul Rowley’s side.
However, O’Brien stated he was first made aware of a potential move early last week by his agent, at which point it was already ‘quite far down the line.’
He said: “About a week ago, Tuesday, I got a call from my agent saying ‘do you know what’s going on behind the scenes?’
“Obviously, I didn’t know what he was talking about and he said ‘there could be a potential move to Toronto on the cards for you.’
“I think that was quite far down the line, which I didn’t know about, and we just went from there. I explored my options and it happened pretty quickly.”
Hull also experienced a high-profile departure this week, allowing Liam Watts to move on to Castleford. However, the 27-year-old forward would not have been available for this fixture anyway after receiving a three-match ban for a headbutt on Dom Crosby earlier this month.
The black and whites will also be without Sika Manu after he picked up a calf injury last time out against Leeds Rhinos, but prop Josh Bowden and winger Bureta Faraimo are fit to return.
There will be three former Red Devils in the Hull FC line up, with Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor and Josh Griffin in line to feature.