Devils had started to turn vital corner
BEFORE SEASON WAS PAUSED, SALFORD WERE GETTING BACK ON TRACK
THE impact that the COVID-19 global pandemic is having on sports across the globe is likely to be felt for some time. We don’t yet know how prolonged or devastating the suspension of rugby league in this country is going to be, but if the situation in the NRL – which has a much more lucrative television broadcast deal and salary cap per club – is anything to go by, the sport may never look the same again.
Down Under, clubs have slashed their budgets and players have been asked to take huge pay cuts to guarantee the survival of the competition, and the situation is likely to be similar in Super League – though the government’s response to the RFL proposal for emergency funding for the sport is keenly awaited.
It’s no secret that rugby league clubs in the UK rely heavily on matchday revenues, so many find themselves in precarious positions without the regular income streams they have budgeted for.
Every team in the sport will be impacted at every level – but in a purely sporting sense, the suspension of the league could not have come at a worse time for Salford.
The Red Devils struggled to make any sort of headway in the early part of the season. With pressure on them to build on the back of last year’s shock spot in the Grand Final, Ian Watson’s side took more time than most to settle into the 2020 campaign, recording only their second win of the season in their final fixture before the sport was paused.
The issues go back some way – the financial situation at the club regularly necessitating a significant turnover in playing staff each year – but with the feeling that this was an opportunity to prove they did not fluke their way to Old Trafford and therefore encourage the big names to stay at the AJ Bell Stadium, the pressure built with every defeat.
Taking on the champions on their own turf isn’t an ideal way to start the season, but the 48-8 scoreline in week one highlighted that Saints were settled – one player out, zero in over the off-season – while the Red Devils were rebuilding with 12 new faces arriving and two Great Britain stars leaving for rival clubs.
Victory over a struggling Toronto provided little more than two points on the league table, but the opening 70 minutes at home to Huddersfield
– a tight arm wrestle of a contest against a side now tipped for a surprise playoff spot – was much better. But Kevin Brown’s head-onhead contact with Jordan Turner would swing the match in the Giants’ favour and keep the veteran halfback on the sidelines through suspension for the club’s next two matches.
Those were at home to Leeds and Wakefield. Two fixtures, two defeats. The absence of Brown hugely noticeable.
He returned for the trip to Catalans and though defeated, in no small part impacted by the mammoth wind advantage the Dragons enjoyed in the first half, Salford showed progress.
This was in evidence the week after. At home to league leaders Wigan, against former star Jackson Hastings and back on Sky Sports.
It was an opportunity for the Red Devils to prove a point – that they could win without Hastings, that they could beat the top teams again and that they were finally settling back into the side that stormed the playoffs last year.
Led by fullback Niall Evalds and off-season recruit Dan Sarginson – both additions to new coach Shaun Wane’s first collection of England players – Salford took that opportunity with both hands, overpowering and outplaying the Warriors.
Desperate to back that performance up, the club, like everyone else, can do nothing but wait until the sport is giving the green light to resume. When that will be and what rugby league will look like then, nobody knows.
This weekend should have been a rematch against St Helens in the Challenge Cup.
But whatever happens in the coming weeks and months, Salford will hope they can repeat their round seven form when Super League finally restarts.
Salford will hope they can repeat their round seven form when Super League finally restarts Tom Bramwell