Tag: Ed Chamberlain

Ian Watson | “We have to know how to turn the tide”

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Head Coach Ian Watson was disappointed with his sides defensive display in defeat to Wigan Warriors and feels his team need to learn how to ‘turn the tide’.
He also gave his thoughts on a range of other topics.

On the performance…

We weren’t good enough defensively. We got ran and around a few too many times on our right-hand edge particularly coming out of yardage. When we put ourselves back in a position to win the game our right edge again let us down. We were disappointed in the first half when we conceded three consecutive tries. We have to know how to turn the tide there. We were completing at 44% in the first half which isn’t good enough. Our execution was poor on the back of that and defensively we let them march us. They did the basics really well and we didn’t.

On the performance in comparison with Castleford…

We were probably better in the Castleford game than we were today. Defensively I just think we’ve let ourselves down from our standards of what we normally compete at. Once we got into the lead again, we needed to up the intensity, but the likes of Dominic Manfredi and Joe Burgess got on the front foot and those two gave Wigan a big lift in the back-field. It’s up to us to deal with that and we didn’t do that well at all.

On injuries…

Ken Sio is the more serious one at the moment, he looked like he’d popped his groin. We’ll have to see what the physios say on that, but he could be looking at over a month.

On Adam Walker…

He was trying to lead the boys and when he came onto the field, he made a massive difference to us as well because he played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. He led the way in the middles, but they were really good for the majority of the game, but we just fell down in certain areas defensively.

On Adam Lawton…

I just felt the game was getting too quick in the middle of the ruck and Adam Lawton is a big guy. We need to be controlling the ball and getting our fair share of it as well and I just thought we made some silly errors. The game wasn’t panning out in a manner in which we felt we could introduce Adam.

On Ed Chamberlain…

Ed’s a good player and he’s a good guy as well who trains really hard. He’ll be disappointed that we’ve been beaten down that right edge but as a team we’ve got to be disappointed that we got beat down that side.
 
Tickets for Sunday’s game against Wakefield Trinity at the Mobile Rocket Stadium are now available to purchase from the Club Ticket Office and over the phone on 0161 786 1570. For more details, click HERE. 

Squad | Ian Watson names 19-man squad for Wigan game

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Head Coach Ian Watson has named his 19-man squad for the visit of Betfred Super League champions Wigan Warriors on Sunday 24th March, 3pm kick-off.
Adam Lawton is named in the 19-man squad and could be in line to make his home debut. Adam Walker retains his place following an impressive debut at Castleford Tigers while Ed Chamberlain is looking for his first start of the season.
Tickets for our game against Wigan Warriors on Sunday 24th March are now available to purchase from the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE.
Here is the squad in full:
 
 

Match Preview | Catalans Dragons vs Salford Red Devils | Saturday 9th March

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

As anticipation builds for Salford’s meeting with Catalan Dragons, here’s everything you need to know ahead of the game this weekend.

Last Time Out

Last Thursday, Salford hosted top of the table St Helens in a 4-26 defeat, with Salford’s only try coming from Derrell Olpherts. Despite the result, it was a positive performance from the Red Devils showing a resilient display against the Saints attack.
Catalan Dragons saw a very close game against Warrington Wolves last Saturday, with Sam Tomkins kicking a match-winning penalty from 45 metres in the final five minutes of the game for the 23-22 victory.
With a reputation of being a hard team to play at home, Catalan had an early advantage from Brayden Wiliame’s try in the second minute of the game. This was followed by a further try from Kenny Edwards after a defensive error on Warrington’s side, with Sam Tomkins securing the conversion both times to bring the score to 12-0 in the first 15 minutes of the game.

Form

Winning three of their five fixtures this season have Salford currently sitting fifth in the table with six points. So far the Red Devils have claimed victory in both away fixtures, putting in impressive performances at Huddersfield and Hull KR.
Salford are currently in the lead for the most attacking kicks (63) of any other team in the league for the 2019 Betfred Super League season and have shown an outstanding defensive display in recent games.
Catalans will be looking for a second home victory tonight after their close 23-22 win over Warrington Wolves last weekend. Steve McNamara’s team have won two of four of their matches this season, with both wins coming from home fixtures.
Currently sitting at seventh in the table with only four games played, the Dragons have the chance to catch up to Salford if they were to come out victorious.

Head-to-head

Salford’s last game against Catalan Dragons saw them leave Stade Gilbert Brutus with a 44-10 defeat; with Salford’s two tries coming from Derrell Olpherts and Josh Wood.
A stadium of 8,672 saw a game that started off on even ground with Fouah Yaha opening the scoring for Catalan. It was Olpherts for Salford who crossed in the 21st minute to bring the Red Devils into the game.
Salford failed to hold off against Catalan’s Jason Baitieri, Kenny Edwards and Yaha, who won three tries in quick succession, with Josh Drinkwater converting two to take the score to 28-4 at half-time.
A try from Josh Wood, followed by a goal from Ed Chamberlain proved not enough to fight back in the second half, as Yaha scored a hat-trick for Catalan. With one further try from Edwards and two goals from Drinkwater.
The 44-10 win for Catalan secured their place in the 2019 Super League.

Team News

Tonight will see goalkicking winger Ed Chamberlain possibly make his first competitive appearance after returning from an injury that saw him miss the early rounds of the 2019 Betfred Super League season. Jake Bibby is also in contention to make his first start of 2019.
Tonight, Catalan will see the return of Greg Bird and Lambert Belmas who will both be making their first appearance of the season.

Squads

Salford: Niall Evalds, Ed Chamberlain, Kris Welham, Jake Bibby, Robert Lui, Gil Dudson, Josh Jones, George Griffin, Mark Flanagan, Joey Lussick, Greg Burke, Tyrone McCarthy, Ben Nakubuwai, Logan Tomkins, Daniel Murray, Derrell Olpherts, Ken Sio, Jansin Turgot, Jackson Hastings.
Catalan: Brayden Wiliame, Lewis Tierney, Samisoni Lang, Matty Smith, Remi Casty, Micky McIlorum, Sam Moa, Kenny Edwards, Greg Bird, Julian Bousquet, Mika Simon, Benjamin Jullian, Matt Whitley, Mickael Goudemand, Lambert Belmas, Lucas Albert, Jason Baitieri, Fouad Yaha, Sam Tomkins.

Squad | Ian Watson names 19-man for trip to Catalans

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Head Coach Ian Watson has named his 19-man squad to travel to Perpignan to face Catalans Dragons on Saturday 9th March.
Ed Chamberlain – who has missed the early weeks of the season through injury – is named in the squad and could make his first competitive appearance of the 2019 season.
Jake Bibby is also looking to make his first start of the 2019 Betfred Super League season. Mark Flanagan will be looking to come back into the starting team as will George Griffin who missed last week’s game against St Helens after pulling up in the warm-up.
Lee Mossop misses the game after picking an injury in last Thursday’s game against St Helens.
Here is the full 19-man squad:

Squad | Ian Watson names squad for 2019 opener against Huddersfield

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils Head Coach Ian Watson has named his first 19-man squad of the season as his side travel to the John Smith’s Stadium to face Huddersfield Giants on Friday evening, 7:45pm kick-off.
New signings Ken Sio and Gil Dudson are both in line to make their competitive debuts for the Red Devils after arriving in the off-season.
Jansin Turgut and Joey Lussick both featured in last year’s Qualifiers campaign but could make their Betfred Super League bows for the Red Devils on Friday evening.
Kris Welham comes into the squad after missing the Red Devils most recent pre-season friendly against Wigan Warriors.
Ed Chamberlain and Josh Wood are recovering from injuries however Logan Tomkins – who missed the backend of last season – is included in the 19-man squad.
Here is Ian Watson’s 19-man squad in full:

 
Tickets for Friday’s game against Huddersfield Giants are still available to purchase from the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office up until 4pm on Friday 1st February and are also available over the phone on 0161 786 1570.
Supporters can purchase over the phone and pick up their tickets at either the The Salford Stadium or John Smith’s Stadium Ticket Office in advance of the game.

Ian Watson | “We’ve got options to manoeuvre things about”

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils Head Coach Ian Watson spoke to the press following a 18-28 defeat to Wigan Warriors in a pre-season friendly. Here’s what he had to say on a range of topics post-match. 

On the game and facing Wigan…

Yeah it was brilliant. It was exactly what we wanted with the lift in intensity. We knew Wigan would bring that, having the game against Swinton last week got us back into gameplay with the fitness and contact elements and then against Wigan we knew it was about coming against the intensity we’ll have to face week in and week out in the Super League. It was perfect preparation for us.

On Jackson Hastings leaving the field early…

He just had a little twinge from the Swinton game, so we didn’t want to overwork him. To be fair, he did more than we expected today because he was feeling good, so we worked off him. We didn’t want to risk anybody we didn’t need to. Obviously, Jackson is an important part of our team.

On Ed Chamberlain’s injury…

Ed looks like he’s the one who may have sustained a syndesmosis or something like that, so we just need to get that checked out. A syndesmosis can be any length of time out depending on how bad the grade is. It could be up to twelve weeks, but we’ll see where he is and hopefully it’s not that bad.

On Rob Lui leaving the field early…

Robbie is fine. He just clashed with Jansin Turgut in a tackle. He had another minute to do, I think he just wanted to come off there. He knew how long he had left to do so he came off a little bit earlier than we wanted him to.

On knowing his starting side for Huddersfield….

I more or less know it. With our group we’ve been able to build it over a couple of years in what we want with the characters in our team and how we want to play. We’ve been able to recruit a little bit better this year in terms of the players who’ve we’ve had to choose from. We’ve brought players in who can play the way we want to, and we’re really pleased with the guys we’ve brought in.

On Niall Evalds’ versatility…

I thought Niall was outstanding. He was a little bit like a Darren Lockyer out there playing full-back and stand-off. He’s really developed again this year. We’re just covering bases a little bit and looking at a few things because we need to deal with it if we get an injury to a half or a nine throughout the season. I thought Niall and Rob linked up well and we even had Greg Burke at hooker with Joey Lussick in the halves at one point. We’ve got options to manoeuvre things about which is important for us at a Club that doesn’t have the biggest of squads.

On Connor Davies-Aspey…

Connor has been brilliant. His is a bit more of baby steps as he still has a lot of developing to do. I think the progression will be probably looking to play at Championship or maybe League One, if there’s a side who’ll take a shot on him. He just needs to develop. That’s the difference between the U19’s and Reserves now. Years ago, there were a lot of 16-year-olds who could come through and play first team because they’d played against men already. Connor’s first game against men was last weekend against Swinton. I had to be very careful as there were a few occasions I could have thrown him on but with the likes of Tony Clubb Joe Greenwood, Liam Farrell and Ben Flower who are physical and big specimens to have thrown Connor in front of those would have been a big ask. He just needs to develop his path the right way.
 

Salford Red Devils 2019 Season Tickets are still available to purchase from the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE.You can spread the cost via Direct Debit payments, for more details, click HERE.

Talking Points | Salford Red Devils 18-28 Wigan Warriors

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils fell to defeat in their second pre-season fixture of 2019 against Wigan Warriors at the The Salford Stadium. However, there were still some promising talking points from the game.

First look at Ken

Ken Sio made his first appearance for the Red Devils since his off-season move from NRL side Newcastle Knights and was one of a few standout performers for Ian Watson’s side.
It took Sio just four minutes to get onto the scoresheet for Salford as he met Jackson Hastings’ low kick to the corner. The winger continued to impress bringing the ball back from deep within the Red Devils half throughout the game.
Following Hastings and Lui’s departures from the field, Niall Evalds moved into the halves with Sio slotting in at full-back where he looked equally as comfortable. The powerful Australian offers versatility in the back-line with the ability to play full-back, winger and centre which will only benefit Salford throughout 2019.
There is a strong competition for places across the back line with the likes of Jake Bibby, Ed Chamberlain, Derrell Olpherts, Kris Welham, Greg Johnson, Junior Sa’u and Evalds but Sio has certainly put his name forward to start away at Huddersfield in just under a fortnight.

Energetic Evalds 

In last week’s talking points, following victory over Swinton Lions, we mentioned the versatility of some of Salford’s key players, one of which was Niall Evalds who moved into the halves. In the defeat to Wigan, the England Knight once again was moved into the halves when Hastings and Lui left the field.
Evalds is blessed with blistering speed and fantastic ball handling ability which made him a handful for the Wigan defence once he moved into the halves. He directly assisted Jake Bibby’s try in the second half before also being involved in the build-up play to Derrell Olpherts’ late score.
While the Red Devils will be looking to Lui and Hastings to occupy the half-back slots throughout the season, Evalds is certainly showing he has the capability to take up the mantle if necessary. Ian Watson even went as far as saying Evalds reminded him of Darren Lockyer, to watch Ian Watson’s full post-match press conference, click here.

Shot clock 

The 2019 season will see the introduction of the shot clock – which has been massively successful Down Under – and it was in play for the first time at the The Salford Stadium against Wigan Warriors.
Two shot clocks have been installed at the The Salford Stadium in the South and North stands. These will countdown to encourage teams to pack scrums and take goal line drop-outs quicker.
Both sides packed down and took goal line drop-outs within the allotted time throughout the game however conversions – which aren’t yet being enforced – did often go over the allotted time limit more often than not.
It will certainly be interesting to see how teams – including the Red Devils – adapt to the new rules and the positive effects it will have on the Betfred Super League.
 
Salford Red Devils 2019 Season Tickets are still available to purchase from the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE.You can spread the cost via Direct Debit payments, for more details, click HERE.

Match Report | Salford Red Devils 18-28 Wigan Warriors

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils fell to defeat to current Betfred Super League champions Wigan Warriors at the The Salford Stadium in their second, and final pre-season, game of 2019.
Debutant Ken Sio put Salford ahead early on however three unanswered tries from Liam Farrell, Sam Powell and Tom Davies gave Wigan a twelve-point lead at the break.
The Red Devils again opened the scoring in the second half through Joey Lussick and inched closer to the Warriors thanks to Jake Bibby’s try. However, Morgan Escare and Zak Hardaker would cross to ensure a Wigan victory. Derrell Olpherts did notch a late consolation.
Sio – who joined in the off-season – took just four minutes to open his Salford account as he latched on to a low kick to the corner from Jackson Hastings. Ed Chamberlain’s conversion fell short of the sticks.
Wigan took their time getting into the game, but Farrell managed to spin away from three Salford defenders to score before Hardaker’s conversion put the visitors in front. Powell would scoot under the Red Devils defence shortly after to extend the lead. Hardaker again converted.
With half-time approaching, Wigan would cross again as a looping George Williams pass found Davies on the wing to further the Warriors’ lead heading into the interval.
It was again Salford who started the quicker in the second half, however. Gil Dudson went close for the Red Devils but a quick play-the-ball on the Wigan line allowed Lussick to throw a nice dummy before burrowing his way under the Warriors defence. Chamberlain added the extras to put Salford just one score behind.
Evalds – who had now moved into the halves in place of Jackson Hastings – was causing issues for the Wigan defence and it was his ball to Bibby which created Salford’s third. The winger adjusted his run well, stepped inside the onrushing Wigan defenders and held three of them off to plant the ball down. Lussick – who was now on goal kicking duties in place of an injured Chamberlain – hit both the post and bar meaning the Red Devils still trailed.
Wigan came back at the Red Devils and would score two tries in eight minutes down the left-hand flank. Escare was the beneficiary of the first break before Hardaker would get on the end of the second in his first game for the Warriors.
In the closing stages Salford would score once more to narrow the deficit. Evalds and Sa’u linked up well before the latter flicked the ball out of the back to find Olpherts who pulled off a fantastic finish in the corner.
Salford: Evalds, Sio, Sa’u, Chamberlain, Bibby; Lui, Hastings; Mossop, Lussick, Murray, Jones, Turgut, Burke.
Interchanges: Griffin, McCarthy, Nakubuwai, Flanagan, Olpherts, Dudson, Davies-Aspey, Wellington.
Wigan: Hardaker, Marshall, Sarginson, Gildart, Davies; Williams, Sammut; Flower, Powell, Clubb, Isa, Farrell, Hamlin.
Interchanges: Greenwood, Navarette, Partington, Bullock, Escare, Shorrocks, Tautai, Byrne, Hankinson, Marshall, Ganson, Mullen.
Salford Tries: Sio (4’), Lussick (45’), Bibby (51’), Olpherts (75’).
Salford Goals: Chamberlain (46’),
Wigan Tries: Farrell (17’), Powell (27’), Davies (36’), Escare (61’), Hardaker (69’)
Wigan Goals: Hardaker (18’, 28’, 62’, 70’)
 
Referee: Liam Moore.
Attendance: 2190.

Talking Points | Salford Red Devils 52-6 Swinton Lions

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Following Salford Red Devils’ comfortable victory over Swinton Lions in their first game of 2019, we take a look at some of the talking points from the fixture.
Attacking threat
The Red Devils ran in eleven tries in a controlled performance against Swinton and the attacking skill Ian Watson’s men possess was on show throughout. Junior Sa’u, Greg Johnson and Joey Lussick all profited from the attacking display crossing for braces while there was also another five Red Devils on the scoresheet.
Sa’u and Johnson’s tries all came on the back of some quick hands out wide. However, there was a number of occasions when Salford broke from deep thanks to the likes of Mark Flanagan, Niall Evalds, Jackson Hastings and young debutant Connor Davies-Aspey.
Flanagan – who began at loose-forward but went on to operate as half – linked up well with Evalds on a number of occasions which led to some great Red Devils tries. Hastings went through the line in almost identical fashion to his debut against Leeds Rhinos last year to set up Sa’u’s second try.
If the Red Devils can continue to cause problems from all over the field, we could see some more excellent tries throughout 2019.
Connor Davies-Aspey
Salford Red Devils Academy player Connor Davies-Aspey was awarded a one-month trial earlier this week and he certainly made the most of his opportunity against Swinton with an impressive cameo in the final twenty minutes of the game.
Davies-Aspey came onto the field and managed to make three clean breaks. His break in the final ten minutes put winger Derrell Olpherts over in the corner and he was close to finishing the game with two try-assists however pulled the trigger a second too early on his pass to Jansin Turgut just minutes earlier.
Head Coach Ian Watson praised the young hooker in his post-match press conference saying it ‘was great for young kid to come in and do that’. Read more of Ian Watson’s reaction here.
Davies-Aspey has certainly put himself in contention for a place in the squad next weekend as the Red Devils face current Betfred Super League champions Wigan Warriors in a pre-season friendly at the The Salford Stadium.
Versatility and depth
After the interval, Ian Watson made four changes to the starting side with Greg Johnson and Derrell Olpherts coming onto the field in place of Ed Chamberlain and Jake Bibby. Both Johnson and Olpherts would go on to score in the second half showing the quality of the Red Devils’ options on the wing this season.
In the pack, the likes of Tyrone McCarthy and Ben Nakubuwai entered the fray and made an impact following impressive forty-minute stints from Lee Mossop and new recruit Gil Dudson in the first half.
Half-back duo Jackson Hastings and Rob Lui both left the field midway through the second half with Mark Flanagan, Joey Lussick and Niall Evalds jumping into the halves. Salford’s try-scoring form didn’t slow down, and the Red Devils continued to look smooth in the absence of a permanent half-back.
The crowd 
On a cold January afternoon fans of both Salford Red Devils and Swinton Lions braved the conditions to watch their sides putting together a solid showing for a pre-season friendly with 1798 people in attendance.
Salford vs Swinton is a fixture – that was Head Coach Ian Watson pointed out earlier in the week – doesn’t happen too often anymore so it has become somewhat of a sought-after attraction. Our Betfred Championship visitors brought a strong following down the road to the The Salford Stadium this weekend while our loyal Red Devils were in fine voice as always showing the passion for the game in the local area.
Next weekend, the Red Devils host another local side in Wigan Warriors, and we’ll be hoping for a similarly strong turnout.
 

Tickets for Salford Red Devils’ next pre-season friendly are available to purchase at the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. For a reminder of ticket prices, click HERE.Salford Red Devils 2019 Season Tickets are still available to purchase from the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. You can spread the cost via Direct Debit payments, for more details, click HERE.

Ian Watson | “I thought we looked quite smooth”

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils got 2019 off to a great start with a 54-6 victory over local rivals Swinton Lions and Head Coach Ian Watson was pleased with various aspects of his side’s performance.

On the game…

I thought it was a good performance and we did what we’ve worked on in the pre-season. We got out of our own half a little bit too easily as we got quite a few penalties on tackle three. I’d have like to see a little more of an arm-wrestle to see more of what we have worked on. But everything that was put in front of the boys they reacted really well to especially when we were making all the changes to mix it up a bit people got plenty of game time.

On adapting following the changes…

I thought we looked quite smooth even when Jackson [Hastings] and Rob [Lui] came off and we put Niall [Evalds] into the halves. We’ve done a bit of practice in training running with different combinations just in case anything happens. We know we’ve got a small squad, but we’ve got players who can play in different positions and that was on show for us against Swinton. 

On Connor Davies-Aspey’s debut…

I was really pleased for him. He’s a baby, to be fair, and I thought he did great. He made a couple of breaks and a little bit of inexperience cost him from making a try for Jansin [Turgut] but he created a nice try for Derrell [Olpherts]. I’m sure he’ll be telling everyone about nearly getting his ribs knocked out as well, but I thought it was great for a young kid to come in and do that.

On fellow triallist – Calvin Wellington…

Calvin did really well coming in at left centre. He has the ability to play on both sides and he transfers the ball really well, but he suits us with him not having a preference as to which side he plays on.

On the players who didn’t feature…

All going well they should be included next weekend against Wigan. With the game being a little different at the moment with the stop clock we wanted our middles to get decent minutes and get used to how it feels to be under the pump and play under the stop clock. That’s why we didn’t make a change in the first half and then let the middles run for a full forty in the second half, also.

On how the players handled the stop clock…

We’ve got players here who are big enough and fit enough to play long minutes if you look at the first half, we had Mark Flanagan, Lee Mossop and Gil Dudson who all did a full forty and handled it really comfortably.

On the stop clock…

It flowed a lot better today. I thought the first ten minutes went really quickly, it used to take a long time to get to the ten-minute mark in some games but today I thought the stop clock helped today and it sped the game up. My thing with it was when you’re watching a game on Sky Sports, they were finishing way beyond 10pm and the game was getting dragged out longer and longer, but I think the stop clock kind of drags that back in really rather than it being stop-start. Hopefully, it’ll make the Betfred Super League more entertaining.

On goal kicking…

No, we’ve no issues there. Ed [Chamberlain] practices religiously so we’ve not got much of a problem with that. It was fairly windy when Ed was out there kicking today. The good thing is last year I don’t think we had a single goal kicker for the majority but now we’ve got a handful of genuine goal kickers – Ed, Jackson, Rob, Joey [Lussick] and Niall likes to put a kick in every now and again. So, we’ve no worries in that department.
 
Tickets for Salford Red Devils’ next pre-season friendly are available to purchase at the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. For a reminder of ticket prices, click HERE.
Salford Red Devils 2019 Season Tickets are still available to purchase from the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. You can spread the cost via Direct Debit payments, for more details, click HERE.

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