SALFORD RED DEVILS went down 32-6 to Wakefield Trinity at Belle Vue tonight.
It’s fair to say that the Red Devils were the second best from the get-go, with Trinity running in a 22-0 half-time lead.
For Salford boss Paul Rowley, it was the “worst performance” since he has been in charge of the Red Devils.
“We knew that it would be a do or die situation for Wakefield, they’ve been here many times over the years and have managed to rescue the situation. They are used to this sort of jeopardy and cliff-edge type moment,” Rowley said.
“We expected a Grand Final mentality from them and so it was important we had a lot of energy and enthusiasm. We got out enthused and fundamentally they did the basics better. They ran and tackled harder and were well worth the victory.
“It’s probably the worst performance since I’ve been in charge. It is tough off a short turnaround from the Wigan game but I wouldn’t want to go down that line too much as it would take away from a team that we knew would be enthusiastic and desperate.
“They played fantastically well and it was disappointing that we fundamentally didn’t run or tackle hard enough.”
Though Salford were without the likes of Brodie Croft, Ryan Brierley and Andy Ackers, Rowley didn’t want to concentrate too much on those missing.
“We are better with them in the team and we gave them a simple game plan. When you’ve got a plan that is simplistic and that you need to win a game against Wakefield who have conceded a lot of points all year, the plan usually involves the fundamentals being done better than your opposition.
“We are always on a cliff-edge, when you perform or get a loss like that I always try and avoid that sort of small squad mentality.
“I would rather control and hit the brutal truths which are the fundamentals again. Obviously players are busted in a small squad and personnel missing has an influence but it wouldn’t be the right route for me to take to use that as an excuse.
“We had enough players out there to do a good job.”