Talking Points | Salford Red Devils 4-26 St Helens

Salford Red Devils fell to a 4-26 defeat at the hands of St Helens on Thursday evening and there were a number of talking points from the game.

Attitude

While the result wasn’t the one the Red Devils were looking for the performance was certainly a positive one as Salford put up a resilient display full of ‘effort and endeavour’ as Watson referenced in his post-match press conference.
The first half saw a real back-and-forth affair for the first twenty minutes before Saints opened up a lead heading into the break. However, much like large periods of the first half, Salford matched the current Super League leaders for most of the second half but just couldn’t open up the St Helens defence.


Salford’s defence remained strong for long spells of the game in comparison with their last home outing against Leeds Rhinos. If there were two moments that encapsulated the ‘never-say-die’ attitude they were certainly Ken Sio and Niall Evalds hunting down Tommy Makinson as he broke free and Jackson Hastings pulling off a sensational defensive effort on Makinson also as he went to score in the corner.
There is no doubting that if the levels of effort and desire remain the same next week in France that Salford will be confident of coming away from the Stade Gilbert Brutus with two points. 

Injuries

It was a tough evening at the office for the Red Devils and that showed in the warm-up as George Griffin had to pull out of the starting line-up with a hamstring problem and was replaced by Daniel Murray.
The injury woes continued for Salford in the early stages as Captain Lee Mossop had to leave the field after just five minutes with a similar injury meaning Salford had to play a huge period of the game with 16 men.

Greg Burke also had to leave the field with for a concussion assessment which meant Gil Dudson returned to the pitch almost immediately after coming off to the interchange bench. Jackson Hastings also missed the final ten minutes of the game as he also needed to undergo a concussion assessment. The game may well have gone a different way had Salford had some better luck with injuries on the night.
Lee Mossop and George Griffin are both being monitored ahead of this weekend’s game against Catalans while Greg Burke and Jackson Hastings will also be looking to be in contention to make the 19-man squad.  

Jansin Turgut

The acquisition of Jansin Turgut last season and his re-signing in the off-season may be one that had slipped under the radar with the other incomings however the Turkish international has put in some sterling performances thus far in the 2019 Betfred Super League.
Turgut was named as the Man of the Match by match sponsor Middleton Barton Group. The back-rower managed to earn an impressive 100 metres during Thursday evening’s game and also racked up a fantastic 44 defensive efforts. He was also prevented his first Red Devils try by a matter of inches in the first half.
The 22-year-old is definitely making an impression at the The Salford Stadium during his first full month of game time and he will be looking to carry his fine form into March and onwards.

Gameday shenanigans

Ahead of kick-off, special guests Jackson Yamba and his ten-year-old son David brought the matchball onto the field to an absolutely amazing reception and the Salford Red Devils fans displayed the true meaning of the Salford community! 
Half-time of yesterday’s game saw the debut of ‘Wild Thang’s Wild Five Minutes’ with Dr Devil firing t-shirts into the crowd thanks to our brand-new t-shirt cannon with one lucky fan winning a golden ticket for a fabulous prize at our next home game.


Thursday’s game also saw the Salford University Takeover Day with a number of students, staff and alumni attending in both a professional capacity in the press area and as supporters. There was also a heavy Salford University presence in and around the The Salford Stadium as a major step between one our main partners for 2019.
 
Tickets for Salford Red Devils next two home fixtures against Wigan Warriors on 24th March and Hull FC on 7th April are both available to purchase at the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 7861 570 or online HERE. You can SAVE money by purchasing in advance!

Jansin Turgut | “It was a really good team performance”

Salford Red Devils back-rower Jansin Turgut returned to Hull for the first time since joining the Red Devils and he says the side really pulled together to complete a memorable comeback victory at KCOM Craven Park.

On the victory…

It was a really good team performance. There were some outstanding efforts from the lads particularly in defence and then George Griffin did a full eighty minutes. I think we knew that going into half-time – even though we were behind – we knew we’d gifted them points by not completing our sets and giving them easy field position and then, ultimately, they scored on the back of that. We knew if we went out after half-time and got into a battle with them and a ‘set-for-set’ mentality then we would pull through the other side with the win.

On the momentum of the game…

I felt there was a point in the first half in which their middles had fatigued, and we had the chance to capitalise, but we didn’t take that opportunity and took our foot off the gas a little bit and enabled them to get back in it which saw them take the lead. In the second-half, we did have that momentum change which we definitely felt, and we tried to make that the turning point with a couple of repeat sets on their line before we scored.

On the final few minutes…

I was watching on the side-line for the final few minutes, but I was nervous for the lads but I’m always confident that we’ve got enough experience and talent throughout the squad to be able to see the game out and make the right decisions.

On the upcoming week…

It’s up to Ian Watson but we’ll recover and do some video analysis on this weekend’s game and ahead of next weekends. We’ll make sure our training is short and sharp this week focusing on ourselves and we’ll be aiming up going into the St Helens game on Thursday evening.
 
Tickets for our game against St Helens on Thursday 28th February are available to purchase from the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 and online HERE.

Talking Points | Salford Red Devils 14-46 Leeds Rhinos

Salford Red Devils fell to their first defeat of the 2019 Betfred Super League season against Leeds Rhinos and we take a look at the talking points surrounding the game.

Going close

While the scoreline got away from the Red Devils in the end there were a few times Salford went close while the margin was much narrower. At 6-18, Jansin Turgut got himself over the line following a clever knockdown from Kris Welham however try was ruled out for a double-movement.
In the closing stages of the first half, Rob Lui broke from deep before finding Jackson Hastings who almost made the line. The ball would end up with Joey Lussick, but the support wasn’t there to finish off the move. George Griffin would then be held up just short of the line a few plays later.


After Josh Jones narrowed the deficit early in the second half, Salford almost pulled the scores level as Junior Sa’u powered his way over three Leeds defenders. Unfortunately, the centre couldn’t quite keep hold off the ball. Had any of these opportunities gone the other way then the game could have well panned out differently.

Jansin Turgut’s sin-bin

A big moment in the game came on the 50-minute mark as second-rower Jansin Turgut was sent to the sin-bin following an altercation with Adam Cuthbertson at the play-the-ball. Turgut was sin-binned for running into the melee and escalating the situation.
Following the sin-bin, the Red Devils kept the scores close with Ken Sio’s penalty goal returning the arrears to six points after Tui Lolohea’s penalty goal following the incident. However, playing with twelve men may well have had an effect on the Red Devils in the latter stages but Head Coach Ian Watson made it clear this ‘wasn’t why they’d lost the game.’
Head Coach Ian Watson said: “Even for the next ten minutes following the sin-bin I thought we got ourselves back into the game and we were looking really strong but after that Leeds really picked up the speed of the game and took it away from us from there. It was a big call, but it isn’t why we’ve lost.”

Josh Jones continues to impress

One of the standout performers on a disappointing afternoon for Salford Red Devils was back-rower Josh Jones who has made a terrific start to the 2019 Betfred Super League season.
Jones was impactful at the John Smith’s Stadium in Round One and has now made try-scoring appearances at the The Salford Stadium against both London Broncos and Leeds Rhinos. Both of his tries came in similar fashion with the robust forward forcing his way over from close-range despite the best efforts of numerous defenders.
The 25-year-old has made massive metres already this season often taking on three and four defenders per carry and his offload game continues to cause a threat on a regular basis.

Gameday entertainment

Away from the field there was plenty of gameday activity and entertainment for supporters to soak up at the The Salford Stadium. Many supporters took advantage of the FREE entry to the Funderpark amusement park pre-game before packing out the Marquee.
The Salford Red Devils mobile Club Shop provided by WildThang was alongside stalls from the Salford Red Devils Foundation, Mascord Brownz and the Salford RLFC Supporters’ Trust all accompanied by music by a ten-piece band.


At half-time local boxer Marc Leach and his trainer Jamie Moore took to the field to promote his upcoming English title fight in March in Oldham. Aaron Parmar also did a lap of the The Salford Stadium pitch after bucket collecting to support his incredible efforts in running 22 10km runs in memory of the 22 victims of the Manchester terror attack.
Finally, Dr Devil was joined by Manchester Storm mascot Lightning Jack!
 
Tickets are on sale for Salford Red Devils next home fixture against St Helens on Thursday 28th February. You can purchase tickets for this game at the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. You will save money buying in advance!

Ian Watson | “We didn’t control the speed of the game well”

Salford Red Devils suffered their first defeat of the 2019 Betfred Super League season against Leeds Rhinos and Ian Watson offered his thoughts on the loss.

On the result…

I think Leeds got what they deserved in the end. We failed to dominate any field position and they turned over in really good field positions and we’ve got to learn a lesson from that.

On Leeds scoring tries in quick succession…

That was because of the momentum of the game and it’s down to us to stop that momentum. I think they scored three in quick succession in the first half which got us as well. We’ve got to learn to be better at turning the momentum on its head and the only way you can do that is to defend well and we failed to do that on the back of our kick chase today.

On Jansin Turgut’s sin-bin…

I thought it was a big call. Even for the next ten minutes following the sin-bin I thought we got ourselves back into the game and we were looking really strong but after that Leeds really picked up the speed of the game and took it away from us from there. It was a big call, but it isn’t why we’ve lost.
I thought he was going for Kris Welham at first which is unlike Welham but he’s reacted in the tackle so I thought he was going to get him so then to sin-bin Jansin was a little bit of a surprise to me but James Child has said he’s sin-binned him for running it and that he’s not actually anything apparently but we’ll take a look at it on the video.

On the difference between the sides…

Yeah, there’s a massive difference in budget – that’s obvious. I wouldn’t say there was a massive difference in talent today. I think one team turned over the field position much better than the other. If you look at how many good-ball sets they had in comparison to us they turned over in good field position we were generally coming off our own try-line. We were turning the ball over on our 40m line. The more attacking sets you give a team like Leeds who have spent heavily they’re just going to put you under the pump and punish you. We didn’t control the speed of the game well.

On bouncing back against Hull KR…

We’ve got to learn our lessons. We didn’t represent ourselves in the best way against Leeds, we wanted to put up a good showing and build on the strong start to the season especially being at home and being in front of a good crowd we wanted them to see us at our best. We failed to do the hard stuff against Leeds in defending and we probably wanted to just concentrate on the defence and we need to rectify that for next weekend against Hull Kingston Rovers because they’ll pose the same threats.
 
Tickets are on sale for Salford Red Devils next home fixture against St Helens on Thursday 28th February. You can purchase tickets for this game at the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. You will save money buying in advance!

Match Report | Salford Red Devils 14-46 Leeds Rhinos

Salford Red Devils fell to a disappointing 14-46 defeat at the hands of Leeds Rhinos bringing to an end their 100% start to the 2019 Betfred Super League season.
Joey Lussick opened the scoring at the The Salford Stadium, but Adam Cuthbertson, Jack Walker and Konrad Hurrell all scored within six minutes to give the Rhinos the advantage heading into the break.
In similar fashion, the Red Devils scored first in the second half through Josh Jones, but Leeds would run away with the game with Walker completing a hat-trick, Hurrell notching a brace and tries from Matt Parcell and Ash Handley.
It was a positive start for Salford as, after just seven minutes, Lussick managed to burrow his way over the try-line from a few metres out. Ken Sio converted.
Leeds would level the scores after off-season signing Trent Merrin found Cuthbertson with a neat offload. The Rhinos immediately followed with another try as Walker broke clear of the Salford defence. Leeds would complete a purple patch of three tries in six minutes as Hurrell latched onto a low Lolohea grubber kick. The half-back successfully converted all three tries.
The Red Devils narrowed the gap just three minutes after the interval as Jones managed to carry three defenders over the line. Sio converted. Salford almost followed up with another try as Junior Sa’u went over but couldn’t ground the ball under pressure from three Leeds defenders.
On the 50-minute mark, Jansin Turgut would be sent to the sin-bin for an altercation at the play-the-ball. Lolohea successfully kicked at goal from the resulting penalty but Sio would close the deficit back to six points with a penalty goal of his own three minutes later.
However, Leeds would run away with the game in the final twenty minutes. Hurrell stepped over for his second of the game before hooker Parcell jinked his way over from acting half-back. Lolohea’s conversion opened up a 16-point lead.
Another try would come a few minutes later as Walker collected a clever low kick from Lolohea and the full-back would round off his hat-trick just two minutes after as he finished a flowing Leeds move from inside their own half. Handley crossed with ten minutes remaining to finish the scoring.
 
Salford Red Devils: Evalds, Olpherts, Welham, Sa’u, Sio; Lui, Hastings; Mossop, Lussick, Dudson, Jones, Turgut, Flanagan.
Interchanges: Burke, Nakubuwai, Tomkins, Griffin.
Leeds Rhinos: Walker, Briscoe, Watkins, Hurrell, Handley; Lolohea, Myler; Peteru, Dwyer, Cuthbertson, Ferres, Ward, Merrin.
Interchanges: Parcell, Donaldson, Smith, Singleton.
 
Salford Tries: Lussick (7’), Jones (43’).
Salford Goals: Sio (8’, 44’, 56’).
Leeds Tries: Cuthbertson (16’), Walker (20’ 65’, 67’), Hurrell (22’, 58’), Parcell (62’), Handley (71’).
Leeds Goals: Lolohea (17’, 21’ 23’, 51’, 63’, 66’ 68’)
 
Salford Sin-Bin: Turgut (50’)
 
Referee: James Child.
Attendance: 4385.

Talking Points | Huddersfield Giants 14-34 Salford Red Devils

Salford Red Devils opened their 2019 Betfred Super League season with an impressive victory over Huddersfield Giants at the John Smith’s Stadium and there were plenty of talking points from the game.

Dangerous left-hand side

The Red Devils ran in seven tries in their 14-34 victory with five coming down the left-hand side. Two of Niall Evalds’ three tries were down the left-hand flank while Junior Sa’u opened the scoring and Ken Sio grabbed a brace on his debut on the same side.
Jackson Hastings and Evalds combined on numerous occasions throughout the game after quick ball from the likes of Greg Burke, Mark Flanagan and Joey Lussick. Evalds was the standout performer cutting through the Giants line on numerous occasions as well as setting up one of Sio’s two tries.


Sa’u had to leave the field midway through the first half with a rib injury with Jansin Turgut moving into the centres. The Turkish international looked just as comfortable as Sa’u as he set up the first of Sio’s double.

Mossop’s massive minutes

In his post-match press conference, Head Coach Ian Watson pointed to Captain Lee Mossop as a massive contributor to the victory as the prop-forward played sixty minutes for the Red Devils.

Mossop was a constant presence in the middle of the park. The former England international got through a lot of hard yards while keeping a powerful Giants pack quiet for the most part. 

Huddersfield – Happy hunting ground 

Last night’s victory marked the sixth consecutive victory at the John Smith’s Stadium for the Red Devils. It is also now the third consecutive season in which Salford’s first away victory of the Betfred Super League season has come at the John Smith’s Stadium.


It is also Salford’s first victory in Round One of the Betfred Super League since 2014 when the Red Devils overcame Wakefield Trinity 18-14 at the The Salford Stadium.

The away following

The Salford Red Devils faithful turned out in strong numbers for the opening game of the 2019 Betfred Super League season with both Ian Watson and Niall Evalds praising the following from the supporters.


The away following was extremely similar to that of last season’s trip to Halifax and were loud and proud throughout. The Red Devils host London Broncos on Sunday 10th February and will be looking for some more terrific support.

Squad | Ian Watson names squad for 2019 opener against Huddersfield

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 | “I can’t wait for the season to start”

Salford Red Devils Head Coach Ian Watson has given his thoughts on a range of topics ahead of this year’s opening game of the Betfred Super League season against Huddersfield Giants.
On getting the season underway…
“I just can’t wait for it to get started, though it does seem a bit earlier these days. The most important thing is that the guys have had sufficient time to recover, mentally and physically, and then get back into pre-season to the work that needs to be done there.”
On the new players in the pack…
“Adam [Lawton] is bigger than the units we had last season, while Gil Dudson has come in and set some really standards. He is really standing out as a leader among our middles, alongside Mark Flanagan and Lee Mossop.
“Jansin Turgut will also provide some pace, aggression and ball handling skill to our outer edge.”
On Jake Bibby…
“They are no longer kids now. They are fully fledged first teamers, which is what we kept instilling into them last season and they did in fact grow into that tole as they showed through some really good performances.
“We have already seen a difference in Jake Bibby during this close season compared with last year’s and the players are now seeing him as a genuine contender to hold down a place in the team.
“That is a big positive for both him and the team and he deserves a lot of credit for the way he has conducted himself through this last twelve months.”
On Daniel Murray…
“We’ll be looking to him to be challenging the likes of Lee Mossop and Gil Dudson who, at the moment, have the advantage over him with their longstanding experience. But we shall be looking at Dan, along with Ben Nakubuwai, to be playing more games this coming year and stamping their authority on the team.”
On the transition from last season…
“We have got to kick on like we did that other time. It is all well and good performing in The Qualifiers but we now have to do it against the likes of St Helens, Wigan and Wakefield.
“We are a strong, capable group with the ability to do this, and if we manage each game carefully and get something out of each of them, that momentum will continue to be generated and will take us forward.
On the loop fixtures…
“We have to play all the teams in the league at some point, so we are not going to be worrying about which team is coming up when. We are just going to focus on ourselves and what we can deliver, and we are most confident within the group that we can do well.
“We know that we shall be facing certain additional challenges with having extra games against Wigan, Warrington and Leeds, to name just a few, together with an additional trip all the way down to London. Those are the fixtures and it is our job to go out there and compete in all of them.”
On the shot clock…
“Everything is going to take place in a lot shorter time period, and at a whole lot quicker pace than previously, particularly with the number of interchanges also being reduced even further, from ten to eight.
“It is absolutely great for us, because our middle men are athletic, and we also have a number of forwards who regularly play a large number of minutes anyway, so we are more than happy with these changes.”
 
Tickets for Friday’s game against Huddersfield Giants at John Smiths Stadium are available from the AJ Bell Stadium Ticket Office and over the phone on 0161 786 1570. Ticket prices will rise on gameday so we advise supporters to purchase in advance. Salford Red Devils also retain 25% of any purchase from the The Salford Stadium.
Coach travel is also available to Friday’s game and can be booked at the The Salford Stadium or over the phone on 0161 786 1570. All ticket prices and coach details can be found HERE.

Gallery | Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital visit

Last week, Salford Red Devils visited Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to give out selection boxes and toys to some amazingly strong children ahead of the Festive season.
The visit was made possible by a host of Salford Red Devils fans and local business donating an array of selection boxes and gifts alongside donations from the Club and we’d like to again thank everyone who contributed.
Head Coach Ian Watson said: “The visit to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital was an honour for myself and the squad. To get to share some quality time with the staff and children was an amazing experience.
“The fact we could go in and be welcomed in the way we were was very special.
“We couldn’t believe the spirits of the strong children, many of whom may spend Christmas time there. The outstanding care that we witness was first class.
“All the squad loved the interaction with the patients and we hope to welcome many of them to Salford Red Devils games when on their way to recovery.”
And, we’ve put together twenty images from our visit to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital for you to take a look at: 

Red Devils attend Salford Roosters’ U12 and U13 awards evening

Salford Red Devils forwards Jansin Turgut and Adam Lawton attended Salford Roosters’ U12 and U13 presentation evening this past weekend.
The two Red Devils were quizzed on all things Rugby League and Salford before presenting trophies to the next generation of players.
Patrick and Chris, the Coaching Staff from Salford Roosters, said: “It was fantastic that Jansin and Adam could join us at our under 12 and under 13 presentation evening.
“The players impressed everyone during the question and answer session with the coaches, kids and parents. We heard about Jansin’s time with the England Schoolboys and Turkey’s national Rugby League team as well as how Adam has re-found his love for the sport at Salford and that he comes from Salford stock!
“They impressed us all with their advice to the boys – play Rugby League for enjoyment, work as hard as you can, and you can achieve what you want.
“We’ve got the next generation of players and fans in our teams and it’s great to have strong links with Red Devils. Having Salford players down inspires our players to try and emulate them.
“Now Salford is a community club it’s more important than ever that we all work together and the Roosters and proud to be working with the Red Devils.”
And, Jansin and Adam loved it too…

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