Salford ‘fearless’ as Warriors arrive
RED DEVILS BOSS RELISHING CHALLENGE OF WIGAN CLASH
WHEN you’ve only won one of your first six matches, you’d probably think the last team you’d want to face is the current Betfred Super League leaders.
But Salford aren’t running scared ahead of the visit of Wigan to the AJ Bell Stadium this evening – rather, they’re looking forward to returning to winning ways and proving that last year’s semifinal victory over the Warriors wasn’t a fluke.
“We’re looking forward to it, we welcome the challenge,” said Red Devils boss Ian Watson. “This group doesn’t fear anybody, whether they’re top of the league or not.
“We just know where we are at this moment in time. When you talk about a rebuild and trying to get your systems right, we’re doing all that.
“We’re really comfortable with the things we’re working on and what we’re doing but we’re not doing them for long enough periods [within games] at this moment in time.
“Wigan coming after the way we played in the second half at Catalans is going to be a really interesting game for us, to see how we start that game and how we finish it.
“I’m more than confident in the group and the players that we can go out and give a really good performance.”
An extra dimension is added to the clash with the fact that Jackson Hastings and Jake Bibby both swapped the AJ Bell for the DW Stadium in the offseason, while Dan Sarginson – arguably Salford’s strongest performer so far this
This group doesn’t fear anybody, whether they’re top of the league or not
Ian Watson
year – in the direction.
“It’ll make the challenge a lot more interesting coming up against Jacko,” admitted Watson. “Obviously he knows us and we know him.
“Jake Bibby is exactly the same. Jake Bibby was here a lot longer than Jacko was, so he knows lots of our stuff. “But we also know lots of stuff about Jake, what his strengths and weaknesses are, so we’re looking forward to the challenge and I know the boys are.” Sarginson missed the trip to the south of France to take on Catalans after picking up a knock in training, but has been travelled opposite named in the 21-man squad to face the Warriors. Should he fail to make it, Elliot Kear would likely keep his place after an impressive debut against the Dragons.
“Elliot did really well,” said Watson. “I was really confident in what Elliot was going to do. He’s not going to let you down, he’s going to give 110 per cent week in, week out for you.
“He stepped in and did really well, playing against a really good team who are really high on confidence at this moment in time.”
For Wigan, Ben Flower and Oliver Partington miss out through suspension, so Adrian Lam has named young forwards James McDonnell and Harry Rushton in a 21-man squad for the first time.