Ian Watson | “The boys have shown real character”

Salford Red Devils Head Coach Ian Watson credited the players with last night’s victory over Widnes saying they’ve ‘overcome adversity’ to get back to winning ways.
Watson said: “I’m really happy with the victory.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity as a club on and off the field and the one thing that’s always stayed really good is the character of the players and they’ve still been coming in wanting to learn, wanting to improve and wanting to get better.
“They deserve all the credit.”
While Watson points to the adversity over the last few weeks, the Head Coach also feels his side battled against adversity throughout the game against the Vikings.
Watson said: “They’ve faced adversity in that game there like the Wakefield game when we faced adversity, also.
“The boys have shown real character and they came out and fought for each other and we got the result on the back of that.
“I’m really proud of the group for what they’ve faced and what’s been thrown at them with people saying they’re not good enough to get into the Super 8s.
“It’s a credit to how they’ve come through it because it does pile a lot of pressure on you.”
In previous weeks, the Red Devils have had to get through more work than usual and Watson feels that by cutting out errors and penalties they lessened this workload which proved dividend.
Watson said: “The big thing is we weren’t doing 100 extra tackles today whereas every other week we’ve been spilling the ball and making this extra work for ourselves.
“We’re a very good defensive team and are also a good attacking side and when we have an equal share of possession we come out of the other side and show the ability we have with ball in hand.”
Watson pointed to new arrival Greg Burke and Jack Littlejohn – who has moved to fullback in recent weeks – as standout performers for his side.
“I knew what Greg [Burke] was about and I was really surprised Widnes let him go,” Watson said.
He added: “Greg is a 25-year-old who works really hard in defence and leads the pack in attack. It’s a real coup for us as a club and I think you could see why with his performance.
“Jack [Littlejohn] showed some real good touches away at Hull FC last week and we just had a few early teething problems with him moving to fullback.
“He’s got to get used to a winger jamming in your face which is different to when you’re in the halves, but I thought his rugby smarts came into play against Widnes and worked really well for us.”