Pauli loads up for some friendly fire
PAULI Pauli is set to see action for the first time since returning to Salford on a permanent deal in tomorrow’s lunchtime friendly against Leigh Centurions at the AJ Bell Stadium.
The huge forward scored three tries in his three appearances while on loan at the Red Devils from Wakefield Trinity last season, but did not feature when Ian Watson’s side kicked off their pre-season action with a 52-4 victory over Swinton last week.
He has come into the extended squad for tomorrow’s fixture at the expense of Ryan Lannon, while captain Lee Mossop is again not included.
The clash with the Centurions will see Salford step up their preparations ahead of the Betfred Super League season, which gets underway at the end of the month.
Despite the margin of victory over Swinton, Watson is looking for his side to make improvements before taking on Challenge Cup holders Warrington in Mike Cooper’s testimonial match on Thursday, January 23.
“Leigh will be a good test because they play similar styles,” explained the Red Devils boss. “They like to move the ball around, which is good.
“Swinton tested us a few times on the edge and caught us a couple of times on inside shoulders, so there’s a few things for us to look at, which is really worthwhile for us.”
Watson opted to make very few changes in the first half of the Swinton match, before introducing the bulk of his new signings in the second period. Pleasingly for the Salford coaching staff, there was no noticeable drop in performance as replacements took to the field.
“We’ve trained like that,” said Watson. “When we’ve made quite a few changes in training, everyone needs to play a part and
everyone needs to know the systems, especially with having 12 new players.
“So rather than having one set 13 running all the time, we keep juggling that to make sure we get the right pieces in place, but the boys have done real good with that.”
There will be a very popular former Red Devil in the opposition ranks, with Junior Sa’u returning to the AJ Bell Stadium for the first time as a player since leaving to join Leigh midway through last season – though he and Jackson Hastings were in the stands to watch their former side against Swinton.
And the New Zealand-born centre revealed he was not at all surprised to see Salford’s success last season.
He told LCTV: “For me, being at the club for six years, we always believed we could compete against the top four, it was just about being consistent and doing it. I was over the moon for the boys and the club [reaching the Grand Final] and I know they’ve lost a couple of players, but they’ve recruited some good players as well, so they should be up in the mix for Super League.”