Salford boss Watson reveals stress during self-isolation
IAN Watson says Salford are ready to emerge from a ‘stressful and chaotic’ two weeks and relaunch their Super League season again.
The Red Devils coach has spent the last two weeks self-isolating after the club found itself embroiled in Hull FC’s Covid-19 breakout. Twelve players and staff at the Black and Whites tested positive for the virus in the wake of their 54-18 defeat to Salford on August 9.
It meant that almost half of Watson’s squad and the coach himself have also had to follow the two-week isolation guidelines, and the planned game with Catalans at weekend was postponed. But after four rounds of negative tests, the Red Devils are hopeful the disruption is close to an end, and although Watson knows he will have minimal preparation time for next Saturday’s clash with Leeds, he insists his side will be ready.
Watson said: “It’s been chaotic and stressful, but the players we sign here are usually competitive and up for a challenge and they will be again.
“We’ll only have a short window before Leeds - probably just two sessions together - but we’ll deal with it, move on and have no excuses.
“This group has been good all through lockdown, and while it’s been frustrating recently and the players have had to worry about their and their families’ welfare, it looks like they’ve all done the right thing and stayed safe.
“We found out about half an hour before (the Hull announcement) which didn’t give us loads of time. We weren’t told any names which I think we should have been.
“The club have been good through all of this - it’s not been about money but about the welfare of players and staff and making sure we had plenty of tests booked.
“The first thing we discussed was families. I wanted to know who had got it at Hull because I knew exactly who I’d been in contact with, and whether it would mean I had to stay away from my family.
“I decided to self-isolate until we had the negative test results and I’d had no symptoms, and my wife went back to work after the third result came back. The kids stayed away from me and I know talking to other lads that there was concern about their families.”