Watson reveals he could add to squad
IAN Watson has repeatedly stated this is the best squad he’s had during his time at Salford – but he hasn’t ruled out making at least one more addition in the coming weeks.
The Red Devils have been linked with a move for Huddersfield Giants forward Oliver Roberts and it appears the 25-year-old is down the pecking order at The John Smith’s Stadium – he started the season on dual-registration at Halifax last weekend.
“We’re always having a little look at what we need as a group going forward,” admitted Watson.
“I was pretty blunt at the beginning of the season when I said I’d like one more player in the back-row position.
“Whether something comes available and we can do something, only time will tell on that.
“Where we’re at at the moment with this group is that we’re really happy with the players we’ve got, but you’d always like to strengthen.”
Watson was also delighted to see the return of competitive reserve grade rugby. First-team players Ed Chamberlain, Elliot Kear, Krisnan Inu, Chris Atkin, Connor Jones, Ryan Lannon and Jack Ormondroyd were all involved as the Red Devils were edged out 24-22 by St Helens’ reserves.
“The big bit that really pleased me was how everyone spoke about the players that came from the first team to play with the reserves,” said Watson.
“They’d not had a chance to actually train with the reserves because I’d kept them with us to prepare the first team for the St Helens game.
“So they’d actually only turned up on the matchday, but they were really professional and everyone commented on that. That’s good for us to be able to send them there and get a game under their belt at this early stage of the season.”