Jackson’s impact even bigger than Dobson’s, says Red Devils coach
WHEN Jackson Hastings arrived at Salford last month, it would have been understandable if it’d taken him a few games to find his feet, surrounded by new team-mates in a side struggling at the wrong end of the table and on the other side of the world for the first time in his life.
Yet, less than a week after he’d stepped off a plane from Sydney, the young halfback tore reigning champions Leeds Rhinos to shreds in a stunning 18-minute spell and has since followed that up with man-of-the-match performances against Hull KR and Widnes Vikings.
Hastings’ impact has been likened to that of Michael Dobson, the future Red Devils captain who arrived at Wigan Warriors in 2006 when the club was fighting relegation and proved inspirational in steering them to safety.
Dobson would star in both the NRL and Super League further before arriving at the AJ Bell stadium ahead of the 2015 campaign and his retirement at the end of last season has been a big factor in Salford’s struggles this year, with replacement Jack Littlejohn suffering injury problems.
And Red Devils boss Ian Watson believes Hastings might just have the edge on Dobson in terms of skill and ability.
“I’d have to go as far as to say – and look, Dobbo was fantastic for us – but Jackson is on another level at the moment, the way he’s playing,” admitted Watson.
“Him and Robbie [Lui] just complement each other so well and that’s a big wrap on him to say he’s fitted in as well as Dobbo did, because Dobbo led us really well for a couple of years here. Robbie has just been freed up since Jacko came in and to be fair, if you have them for a full season, they’re probably the best halves in the league, the way they’re playing.
“They’re two really high quality players and it’s just what Robbie has been missing. He had this organisation before when Dobbo was here and he was really good then.”
Alongside Hastings, hooker Joey Lussick also arrived last month – a move part-funded by a supporter fundraising effort – and has also had a big impact. Watson added: “We’ve got Joey in at nine who is just nice and comfortable,
controlling the gameplan for us and then we’ve got Woody [Josh Wood] who is dynamic, so our spine is really in sync.
“If we’d had them earlier, [the season] would have been a different story.
“But look, we’re doing the job that’s in front of us, we’re two from two and we just have to make sure that our attitude, our work ethic and team mentality is there going into Halifax in two weeks.”