Steeler Davies defiant
Devils are ready for life without star Hastings
IAN WATSON is not surprised his Salford Grand Finalists are already being written off as relegation fodder this season.
But the Red Devils coach insists he will have the last laugh on the doubters who claim his team are one-hit wonders.
Salford enjoyed a fairy-tale run to Old Trafford last October after starting the year being branded no-hopers.
But even their Grand Final heroics, when they went down fighting 23-6 to St Helens, are not enough to convince the sceptics.
Watson, whose men kick off their season at St Helens on January 31, said: “We want to prove people wrong who say we will finish 10th or 11th and that last year was a fluke. It’s good motivation for us.
“I have got used to people writing us off. I would love for us to be a team that has the expectation of needing to compete in Grand Finals. We aren’t, but we want to be.”
Star man Jackson Hastings has joined Wigan, one of 12 players who have left over the winter.
Great Britain half-back and Man of Steel winner Hastings has been replaced by 35-year-old Kevin Brown, whose 2019 season was virtually wiped out by a ruptured Achilles.
It’s a switch that has underwhelmed some Salford fans, even though Brown appeared in the World Cup Final in 2017 with England. Watson added: “Jacko was a runner and explosive and could do things on his own but Kev is very much a team player and he can create things.
“People will question it, saying Warrington didn’t want him, he’s a bit older and a bit of an unknown now because of his injury.
“But Kev’s a top-quality professional. We will play in a slightly different way with Kev but I think in a better way that will suit our team.”
Salford have the lowest budget in Super League compared with some other top-flight clubs who are able to spend around half a million pounds more on players.
Unless the community-funded Red
Devils can attract regular crowds of
5,000 or more, that’s unlikely to change.
Watson said:
“Early doors, it was kind of hard for me to get my head around. But at
Salford we prove that you don’t just do everything through money.” (above)
MICHAEL DAVIES insists Sheffield can defy the club’s biggest-ever injury crisis to be crowned Elite League champions.
After three games in five days the Steelers top the table and also have one foot in the Challenge Cup Final after a 5-1 first-leg win at Glasgow.
Victories at Cardiff and against Belfast opened up a seven-point lead over the Devils but the chasing pack have games in hand.
And they did it with five regulars – Robert Dowd, Anthony DeLuca, Brandon Connolly, Josef Hrabal and Eric Meland – all crocked.
American forward Davies said: “The boys are pretty tired. I’m exhausted, I know that, but it was a really big weekend.
“We are in the driving seat now. Of course Cardiff have games in hand but they have to win those.’’ GREAT BRITAIN have called up three new faces as they chase a place in the 2022 Olympics.
Dual nationals Travis Erhardt (Glasgow), Brendan Connolly (Sheffield) and Scott Conway (Providence) are in the squad to face Estonia, Hungary and Romania for a place in the final qualifiers in August.