Tag: Ian Watson

Ian Watson – “Absolutely phenomenal bunch of people”

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

With the 2020 Betfred Super League season now at an end for Salford Red Devils, head coach Ian Watson has spoken highly of his squad.Β 
After grinding out a 28-2o victory against Wakefield Trinity on Friday night in their last league game of the year, Watson was looking ahead to next season with positivity.
“I’m really positive about this group,” Watson said.
“They’ve really bought into being together as a team and as a club, and then on the field they’ve bought into what we’ve asked of them.
“The group of players are an absolutely phenomenal bunch of people to be around.”


The head coach shared some kind words on Flanagan, who is hanging up his boots, and on Welham, who is stepping into the Betfred Championship to play semi-professional for Featherstone Rovers, as he prepares for a career outside of the sport.
“Adrian Morley was at the club at the backend of his career when I took over and I knew we needed somebody of that kind of stature that all the boys would respect and they’d want to follow,” said Watson.
“Flash (Flanagan) was that guy and he’s done it for the last five or six years, and it’s been an absolute honour to work with him.”
He added: “Welly (Welham) is just mister reliable, I love everything he does. He does everything that supporters don’t really notice about him.”
To hear more from Ian Watson, click HERE to watch the full press conference on RDTV.
Salford Red Devils supporters can get behind Watson’s men, by purchasing their season tickets for the 2021 campaign early.
AdultΒ pricesΒ have been reduced across all areas, making it even more affordable to watch the team next year. Further details can be foundΒ HERE.
Image credit: Steve McCormick

Watson – “They stand together”

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils head coach Ian Watson has heaped the praise onto his players for the collective effort they have put in over the past few weeks.
The Red Devils scored six second-half tries against the Dragons on Monday afternoon to turn the game on its head, and have impressed their head coach going into their final fixture.
Watson said: “I think we’ve responded the right way in the last two weeks, and I think individual players have responded really well.
“The group is about each other, that’s how this group has been built.
“The one thing that they do, they stand together. Amongst everything else, whatever is thrown at them, they stand together.”
With their 2020 Betfred Super League season ending in this evening’s match agains Wakefield Trinity, Watson wants to build on the fantastic support that the Salford fans have given ahead of next year.
“Our supporters have been outstanding this year in donating their season tickets – the sponsors sticking by us. We need that and we need more of them as well to come forward,” Watson added.
“If we want to be classed as a top club, the only way we’re going to do it at Salford is by us all being in it together.”
Salford Red Devils supporters can get behind Watson’s men, by purchasing their season ticketsΒ  for the 2021 campaign early.
AdultΒ prices have been reduced across all areas, making it even more affordable to watch the team next year. Further details can be found HERE.

James Greenwood “A really good culture”

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils’ James Greenwood believes the Club’s culture had changed massively when he returned to the The Salford Stadium permanently this year, compared to his time as a loanee in 2015.Β 
The 29-year-old arrived at Salford five years ago on loan from Wigan Warriors, and after signing permanently from Hull Kingston Rovers this year, noticed a big difference in the Club’s setup.
“I probably couldn’t even describe how different it is,” Greenwood said.
“I think it’s the culture, the staff and Ian Watson – just what they’re trying to build now.
“They’re getting players to perform together – wanting to perform together, and the proof is in the pudding. They’ve got a really good culture going, I think that’s huge.”
Greenwood played a pivotal role in Salford’s Coral Challenge Cup run, scoring in the Quarters, Semis and the Final, which can all be watched on RDTV.
Speaking on his Wembley try, Greenwood said: “At the time I thought we’d just about managedΒ to start breaking Leeds down. In our heads we were like ‘we’ve got these now.’
“I’ll definitely look back on it as part of my career, three consecutive cup games and three tries.”


Salford have no time to dwell on the disappointment of last weekend, with Wigan next on Friday night in the Betfred Super League.
“We’ll be back in training, focusing on that game. Wigan was the last game before lockdown at home, and we did a job on them then,” Greenwood added.
“I don’t see why we can’t do a job on them again, I think they’re there for the taking.”
All matches from Salford Red Devils’ 2020 Coral Challenge Cup campaign are available to watch on RDTV.

Match preview | Warrington Wolves V Salford Red Devils | Friday 19th April

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

It’s back to the Betfred Super League this Easter Weekend as Salford Red Devils travel to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to face Warrington Wolves this Good Friday.

Last time out

Following an impressive performance in their Coral Challenge Cup match against Rochdale Hornets last Friday, Salford will be fighting back in the Super League in tomorrow’s match against The Wire.
Salford were unstoppable in their 76-6 victory conceding just one try to Rochdale, in contrast to the 13 tries scored for the Red Devils.
With Greg Burke winning his first try of the season in the third minute of the game and Niall Evalds going over four times for Salford, Ian Watson’s squad displayed impressive defensive and attacking positions throughout the game.
Gil Dudson, Ed Chamberlain, Logan Tomkins, Jake Bibby (2), George Griffin, Rob Lui and Krisnan Inu were also on the scoresheet, with Shaun Ainscough scoring the only try for Rochdale.


Warrington Wolves will be looking to make a comeback against Salford after losing away to St Helens last Friday.
The Saints seemed to dominate the game with a 14-point lead at half time, resulting from two tries in quick succession following Mike Cooper’s yellow card for a high tackle.
Wolves tried to fight back in the second half but failed to hold off a fierce attack from the Saints to bring the game to 38-12.

Form

Salford suffered a 16-23 loss in their previous Betfred Super League clash against Hull FC at the The Salford Stadium, placing them seventh in the table on a run of four straight losses.
However, a morale-boosting win over Rochdale Hornets in the Challenge Cup last weekend, following a squad shuffle from Head Coach Ian Watson, should give Salford the confidence to come out fighting at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.


The loss to St Helens for Warrington last Friday ended an impressive 9-match victory run for the Wire, leaving them sitting second in the Betfred Super League table.
Warrington will be looking to pull back from the loss as they obtain the home advantage for tomorrow’s meeting.

Head-to-head

Joey Lussick has been a prominent part of the Salford squad in recent games, scoring four tries and four goals for the Red Devils in 10 appearances.
Lussick will be looking to return to the squad as Hooker to face Warrington Wolves in tomorrow’s game at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
He will go head to head with The Wire’s Daryl Clark who matches Lussick in scoring four tries in 10 appearances for Wolves.

Team news

Ian Watson’s 19-man squad for tomorrow’s game sees the return of Mark Flanagan and Daniel Murray to replace Ed Chamberlain and Logan Tomkins.
George Griffin will also be looking at reaching his 100thSalford appearance if he plays in tomorrow’s 17-man team.

Squad

Salford: Niall Evalds, Kris Welham, Junior Sa’u, Jake Bibby, Rob Lui, Josh Wood, Gil Dudson, Josh Jones, George Griffin, Mark Flanagan, Joey Lussick, Adam Walker, Greg Burke, Tyrone McCarthy, Ben Nakubuwai, Daniel Murray, Derrell Olpherts, Krisnan Inu, Jackson Hastings.
Warrington: Ryan Atkins, Blake Austin, Josh Charnley, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Bryson Goodwin, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, Toby King, Harvey Livett, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Declan Patton, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Lama Tasi, Ben Westwood.
Tickets are still available to purchase from the The Salford Stadium ticket office or over the phone on 0161 786 1570 until 9pm tonight! Fans can choose to collect their tickets from the The Salford Stadium tonight or collect them on matchday at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Salford will retain 25% off all advanced ticket profits so buy now! Get moreΒ information on ticket and coach prices HERE.

Ian Watson | “It’s about having consistency every week”

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils got off to a positive start last night in their first Challenge Cup match with a 76-6 victory against Championship side Rochdale Hornets.
Head Coach Ian Watson gave his thoughts on the performance.
It was a good professional performance in the end. I thought in the second half we got back to our structures and our systems and that’s what we asked of today.
We wanted to use it to get back to putting some of our systems back in place because we fell off it a little bit in the last few games.

On Ed Chamberlain’s injury…

Ed’s the disappointing one. We don’t know where he’s at so we’ll assess that. We’re hoping its nothing major like an acl.
He’s been a great signing for the club so hopefully he won’t be too bad, although it does look a bit loose at the moment.

On Jackson Hastings…

He wants to play. He’s a rugby league player and he wants to play every minute of every game but we’ve got two big games coming up against Warrington and Wigan and he’d done his job.
He’s passionate, he wants to play, and he wants to play every minute of every game so he was disappointed to come off.
I thought the team kept in the same systems after he came off as well which was even more pleasing. When Jacko’s come off in the past we’ve fallen away from it and struggled and that’s credit to young Josh Wood, he stepped up and did really well there.

On previous games…

In those games we haven’t been too far off and we’ve been competing in them all. We’ve just had a discipline issue last week and execution.
We opened Hull up loads of times last week and we made about 10 breaks to their one in that game and didn’t actually open us up. They scored some rubbish tries and we conceded one again tonight which we aren’t happy with.
As far as the attack, we’ve been opening teams up and we’ve not been struggling in that department and the defence has been good. It’s just been lapses in concentration against the smart players that have caught us out and I think that’s an experience thing but we’re getting that back now with Junior, Kris Welham and Krisnan Inu coming in so we’re getting more experience and smarts on those edges.

On the squad…

The minutes for Logan Tomkins was massive. Josh Wood was huge for us. Getting him back out there and getting through the game, that’ll do his confidence no end.
Bibby – trying him in the back row gives us extra options of being able to utilise people more. Ben Nakubuwai ended up in the back row as well with Tyrone McCarthy so we’ve got players who we know we can shuffle around and today was a good exercise to be able to utilise that.
Krisnan Inu has nailed the kicking slot. He’s always been a good goal kicker so he’ll step up into that role now for us.
I said after the hull game we were making changes because I wasn’t happy with certain things.
The guys had to step up and take their opportunity and some of the guys who have been left out tonight, have been left out because they haven’t performed. The Guys coming in have had to put their hands up and say they’re ready to play.
What we can’t do at a club is guarantee people shirts. People have got to want to compete for it all the time. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a senior pro or whether you’re a young guy coming through; you’ve got to be competitive and want to hold your shirt.

On future games…

It’s about having consistency every week. It’s no good playing well one week and then having two average games.Β What we want as a club is to be good every week so we can compete with the top teams and that’s what we ask of the players.
Logan and Woody coming in today and getting good minutes was brilliant for us.
We talked about building our foundations early on in the season. We got back on it today, especially in the second half when we got a bit more confidence, so it’s served us a really good purpose.

Tickets for Salford Red Devils next fixture against Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday 19th April are now available from the Club Ticket Office and over theΒ phone on 0161 786 1570. For ticket details,Β click HERE.
Salford Red Devils next home fixture sees them welcome WiganΒ Warriors to the The Salford Stadium on Monday 22nd April and you can purchase tickets from the Club Ticket Office, overΒ the phone on 0161 786 1570 orΒ online.Β 
 

MATCH PREVIEW | SALFORD RED DEVILS V ROCHDALE HORNETS | FRIDAY 12TH APRIL

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils host Rochdale Hornets at the The Salford Stadium in the Coral Challenge Cup clash.

Last time out

Salford will be looking for a win in today’s Challenge Cup clash after suffering a 16-23 loss to Hull FC last Sunday.
The Red Devils struggled to break through the Hull defence early on in the game, until Josh Jones managed to get a hand on Rob Lui’s low kick into touch.
With a further two tries from Niall Evalds and Jackson Hastings in the second half and a hat-trick from Hull FC’s Josh Griffin, it was Marc Sneyd’s kicking skills that won Hull the victory with five conversions and a drop-goal.


Rochdale also fell to a 24-48 loss in their previous Championship game against Halifax with Lee Mitchell, Jack Higginson, Ellis Robson and Carl Foster all going over for the Hornets.
Their visit to the The Salford Stadium will be Rochdale’s second Challenge Cup match after they won by a single point in a 21-22 victory against Whitehaven.

Form

Since Salford’s impressive 46-0 victory over Catalan Dragons, Sunday’s loss meant that the Red Devils fell to a fourth straight defeat; their longest losing run of the season so far.
Rochdale Hornets have also struggled in recent games, losing six of their last seven Championship matches.

Team News

Salford’s Head Coach Ian Watson has named his 19-man squad ahead of today’s game, bringing back Logan Tomkins and Adam Lawton.
Tomkins and Lawton will replace Mark Flanagan and Jansin Turgut.

Squad

Salford: Niall Evalds, Ed Chamberlain, Kris Welham, Junior Sau, Jake Bibby, Rob Lui, Gil Dudson, Josh Jones, George Griffin, Joey Lussick, Adam Walker, Greg Burke, Tyrone McCarthy, Ben Nakubuwai, Logan Tomkins, Derrell Olpherts, Adam Lawton, Krisnan Inu, Jackson Hastings.
Rochdale: Dec Kay, Shaun Ainscough, Seta Tala, Ben Morris, Dan Abram, Ben Moores, Lee Mitchell, Ellis Gillam, Dec Gregory, Mike Weldon, Liam Carberry, Ryan Millington, Joe Ryan, Jack Cottington, Callum Wood, Brandon Wood, Tyler Whittaker, Jack Higginson, Nathan Reidy.

MATCH REPORT | SALFORD RED DEVILS 16 – 23 HULL FC

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils suffered a 16 – 23 defeat at home against Hull FC at the The Salford Stadium.
With a hat-trick from Josh Griffin and three penalty goals from Marc Sneyd, Hull FC handed Salford Red Devils a fourth straight defeat at the The Salford Stadium.
Josh Jones, Niall Evalds and Jackson Hastings went over for Salford, showing a stronger attacking position in the second half, but a drop-goal from Sneyd in the last 10 minutes of the game gave Hull FC the final hand in securing a victory over the Red Devils.
It was former Salford player Josh Griffin who opened the scoring for Hull FC, followed by two penalties scored by Marc Sneyd.
Salford held a strong attack with a try from Niall Evalds being disallowed due to interference, but the Red Devils could not break the Hull defence until Josh Jones powered over from a Rob Lui kick to secure the only try for Salford in the first half of the game, bringing the score to 6-10 at half-time.
Josh Griffin furthered Hull’s lead in the second half, scoring two tries in quick succession and winning a hat-trick in the 50thminute to further the Hull advantage.
Conceded penalties proved to be Salford’s downfall after Sneyd scored a third penalty to ensure Hull’s lead.
Both Evalds and Jackson Hastings went over for Salford until Snyed finished the game with a quick drop-goal to secure a Hull FC victory.
 
SALFORD:Β Evalds, Inu, Chamberlain, Bibby, Olpherts, Lui, Hastings, Walker, Lussick, Dudson, Jones, Griffin, Flanagan.
INTERCHANGES:Β Burke, Welham, Nakubuwai, Turgut.
HULL FC:Β Wynne, Logan, Griffin, Tuimavave, Faraimo, Kelly, Sneyd, Taylor, Houghton, Paea, Minichiello, Manu, Westerman.
INTERCHANGES:Β Lane, Savelio, Ellis, Washbrook.
 
Salford tries:Β Jones (18′), Evalds (58′), Hastings (70′)
Salford goals:Β Chamberlain (20′, 71′)
 
Hull FC tries:Β Griffin (5′, 47′, 51′)
Hull FC goals:Β Sneyd (6′, 11′, 37′, 48′ 66′)
Hull FC dropgoals:Β Sneyd (73′)
 
Referee:Β Gareth Hewer
Attendance:Β 3,609
Man of the Match:Β Niall Evalds

MATCH PREVIEW | SALFORD RED DEVILS V HULL FC | SUNDAY 7TH APRIL

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils host Hull FC at the The Salford Stadium, celebrating ‘Salford Health Day’ in partnership with AJ Bell Group.

Last Time out

Salford showed a spirited attacking mentality last Sunday when they came up against Wakefield Trinity at the Mobile Rocket Stadium, with tries from Niall Evalds, Kris Welham, Derrell Olpherts and Jackson Hastings.
However, the Red Devils’ defence failed to hold off in the first half resulting in a 24-10 advantage to the home side at half-time.
Despite two tries in the second half of the game from Olpherts and Hastings, Salford fell to a 33-22 defeat leaving them sitting sixth in the table ahead of today’s clash against Hull FC.


Hull FC also suffered a heavy 12-63 home defeat against Warrington Wolves last Friday with their only two tries coming from Albert Kelly and Jordan Lane.
After allowing Warrington’s Blake Austin to score a hat-trick before half-time, Hull conceded 11 tries at full-time with Austin (4, DK), Josh Charnley (3), Tom Lineham (2), Daryl Clark (1) and Ben Murdock Masila (1) all going over and Stefan Ratchford kicking nine conversions.
 

Form

Since their 0-46 victory over Catalan Dragons in early March, Salford have suffered three losses in a row to Castleford Tigers, Wigan Warriors and Wakefield Trinity.
However, the Red Devils have shown a spirited performance in recent games, scoring at least four tries in their past five games.
With Salford and Hull FC sitting at sixth and seventh place in the table at eight points each, both teams will be looking for a reaction in today’s meeting that offers the opportunity for either team to climb up the table.

 

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Gameday

It’ll be all action at the The Salford Stadium as today’s game against Hull FC is taking place on β€˜Salford Health Day’ in partnership with the AJ Bell Group.
Celebrating his 70thbirthday, Salford legend Steve Nash will make an appearance on the pitch 15-minutes before kick-off, accompanied by some of Salford’s other heroes from 74 and 76.
Half-time entertainment will see an attempt at breaking the record for a mass Tai Chi demonstration, guided by the Wai Yin Tai Chi masters, along with a performance from Salford’s own Red Angels Cheerleaders.

Team News

Today will see the return of Tyrone McCarthy and Ben Nukubuwai, replacing Adam Lawton and Daniel Murray who is out for injury.
Junior Sau has also been named in Ian Watson’s 19-man squad ahead of today’s game against Hull FC.

Squad

Salford: Niall Evalds, Ed Chamberlain, Kris Welham, Junior Sau, Jake Bibby, Rob Lui, Gil Dudson, Josh Jones, George Griffin, Mark Flanagan, Joey Lussick, Adam Walker, Greg Burke, Tyrone McCarthy, Ben Nukubuwai, Derrell Olpherts, Jansin Turgot, Krisnan Inu, Jackson Hastings
Hull FC: Bureta Faraimo, Carlos Tuimavave, Josh Griffin, Albert Kelly, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton, Dean Hadley, Mark Minichiello, Joe Westerman, Sika Manu, Jordan Lane, Mickey Paea, Jack Logan, Jez Litten, Danny Washbrook, Gareth Ellis, Andre Savelio, Connor Wynne

Salford Red Devils seal deal for Krisnan Inu

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Salford Red Devils are delighted to confirm the signing of vastly experienced back Krisnan Inu.
Following an emphasis on our Squad Builder scheme, the Club have committed to making one more big signing and you can now commit to helping the Club continue to grow and compete by joining our Squad Builder initiative before the deadline on Sunday 31st March.
Inu had seven successful seasons in the NRL with Parramatta Eels, New Zealand Warriors and Canterbury Bulldogs featuring in the 2015 NRL Grand Final for the latter. Scoring over 60 tries and 130 goals, Inu earned caps for New Zealand and Samoa while playing in the NRL.
A brief stint in Rugby Union with Stade Francais was followed by a move to Catalans Dragons and, more recently, Widnes Vikings for whom he averaged a try every other game before being released due to their relegation.
Salford Red Devils Head Coach, Ian Watson, said: β€œKrisnan is a high-quality addition to our back-line who we spoke to in pre-season and are now really pleased to have brought to the Club.
β€œHe has a proven record in both the NRL and Super League so when Krisnan became available it was important for us at the Club to sign him in order to lift the levels of competition and quality within our squad.
β€œWe are hoping after a couple of setbacks we can get Krisnan back to his best and back to enjoying his Rugby League.”
Salford Red Devils Director of Rugby and Operations, Ian Blease, said: β€œWe have been speaking and working hard with Krisnan over the past few months, so to finally be able to bring him to the Club is fantastic.
β€œKrisnan has played at the highest level domestically and internationally and is a really strong addition to an already competitive squad.
β€œHe’s extremely versatile across the back-line and I’m confident we can bring the best out of him on the field for the remainder of the 2019 season.
β€œBig credit has to go to our supporters who have backed our Squad Builder initiative as this has been huge in helping us get Krisnan over the line and I’d like to see them continue to support this scheme ahead of next week’s deadline.”
Inu will be available for selection as Salford Red Devils get ready to take on Wakefield Trinity on Sunday 31st March at the Mobile Rocket Stadium.

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

Posted on by Luke Wallworth

Head Coach Ian Watson wasΒ disappointedΒ with his sides defensive display inΒ 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’sΒ gameΒ against Wakefield Trinity at the Mobile Rocket Stadium are nowΒ available to purchase from the Club Ticket Office and over the phone on 0161 786 1570. ForΒ moreΒ details, click HERE.Β 

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