RYAN BRIERLEY believes Salford’s players became tighter than ever during the club’s crisis.
Only last week was a much-needed takeover completed, by a consortium led by Swiss investment banker Dario Berta.
The club has spent pre-season in special measures imposed by the RFL, and were ordered last month to sell players to meet a reduced salary cap.
Despite much speculation, no players were sold and the team has prepared as normal for the new campaign.
“I’ve actually been really impressed by the group and how they’ve handled things,” said fullback Brierley.
“When you get a bit of adversity, it either makes or breaks you. I’m really proud of how the group has stuck together but I’m not surprised by it.
“We’ve gone through it so many times, it doesn’t affect us. It’s built up our resilience.
“I like to strip it down to the facts. The facts are we’ve been paid every month; we’re training every day; nothing has really changed. It’s each day as it comes.
“We just want to move on. It’s not nice hearing and seeing things, but no player has either been sold or asked to leave.”
The club has established a reputation as overachievers in recent times, defying one of Super League’s smallest budgets.
After reaching major finals in 2019 and 2020, Salford have finished sixth, seventh and most recently fourth in the three seasons to date under coach Paul Rowley.
Their adventurous style of play with the ball under Rowley, who will hand the reins to assistant Kurt Haggerty at the end of this year, has gained admirers.
Brierley said: “We’ve probably taken that tag of everyone’s second-favourite team, with the unique way that we play. It’s a different brand to other teams.
“Ultimately it’s a great environment to be a part of. It would be a shame if anything bad happened.
“That could be where the interest in the club has come from, what a great product we’ve got and what a great team we have.”
Few will expect Salford to reach the play-offs again, and Brierley admits it will be a more challenging season regardless of what happens off the field.
“We understand how tough it is going to be, for sure,” he said.
“There’s an element of reality. We know we’ve got to work hard to achieve what we achieved last year.
“That’s going to be a tough ask, but we are confident in our team and our abilities that if things go right, we can achieve some special things.”