Watson full of confidence as Devils shape up
SALFORD’S pre-season campaign might have ended in defeat when they faced Betfred Super League opposition for the first time, but coach Ian Watson was delighted with what his side got out of their final warm-up fixture against Warrington.
After a solid showing in the first half – the Red Devils led 10-8 at the break – Watson and his coaching staff opted to ring the changes in the second period, which he admits disrupted the side.
“We just wanted to give some people a little more gametime and get some minutes into other people,” he explained. “We chopped and changed our middles, Flash (Mark Flanagan) played massive minutes and we needed to get those into him because he hasn’t played loads and loads of minutes early doors.
“We wanted to get some gametime into Jack Ormondroyd and have a look at him at this level, because he’s been playing Championship, and the same with Connor Jones.
“We’re really pleased, we came through it healthy.”
Watson has now seen his team play friendlies against Swinton, Leigh and Warrington, plus a short training camp in Spain, and is pleased with the depth to his squad, noting that several players expected to be on the fringes are pushing for starting spots for the season opener at St Helens on Friday night. “There’s a couple who have given us a couple of headaches going forward,” said the former Swinton Lions boss.
“Our middles have been outstanding for us and we’ve got a variety of players there who bring different aspects to us.
“We’ll have a good look at St Helens now over the weekend and see which ones will suit them best, but there’s a few players who have put their hands up.”
Having reached a Grand Final last year, Salford are expected to be competitive once more, but will have to do so without Great Britain internationals Jackson Hastings and Josh Jones, who led a long list of departures from the AJ Bell Stadium.
Despite that, Watson believes the 2020 group on the whole is stronger than any he has coached at the Red Devils.
“I don’t like to look back, this is a new group and a new team,” he said.
“We will be different in the way we play things, but that will be to play to the strengths of the players we’ve got in. We felt we were in a good position at this point last year and I feel we’re in a good position again, but if you had to really hold me to it, I’d probably say I’m a bit more comfortable this year.
“Whether that is just because of the experience of being in it a little bit longer and knowing some more of the players, but I feel really confident as a team and a club going forward.”