MIKE GRADY has insisted that he is ‘enjoying’ being head coach of Salford – even if it has been tremendously hard work.
Grady, who had been head coach of Salford Red Devils’ women’s team for two years prior to this appointment – took on the job in early January of this year.
Of course, with no team set-up, it was going to be a race against time to bring in players necessary to compete in the Championship.
They have done just that, with one league victory so far and a growing sense of belief amongst the terraces that the club is heading in the right direction.
So why did Grady choose to join and where does
“I’ve enjoyed it, first and foremost, but it has been hard work especially early on with having no pre-season and getting players together,” Grady told League Express.
“It’s been tough but really enjoyable and it is what I enjoy doing.
“I was at the previous club, Salford Red Devils, I already knew the place and a few people there, whilst I spoke with Ryan Brierley briefly when he was in the first-team.
“I was offered the opportunity, Ryan came straight to me and I took it. I had been coaching for the women’s team for two years and I had always been looking to get back into the men’s game if the right offer came along and I felt Salford was the right one.
“I jumped at the chance to take the job.
“I think people forget we haven’t had a pre-season and that win against Hunslet – which was, of course, a good thing – it sort of masked where we had been at.
“A lack of pre-season and getting players in has been really tough because most squads are filled with players signed up.”
So is the Salford job harder than he thought it would be?
“When I spoke to Ryan about it, about the idea of a consortium coming in, he explained it all to me.
“At the time, knowing rugby league, I knew it would be hard to make a go of it at that time of the year.
“There were times early doors when we turned up to training and I was set to start coaching and there were things that still needed to be done admin wise – speaking to this person and to that person.
“That’s normally stuff you do over the three-month pre-season. I have been at South Wales Scorpions and North Wales before just after the previous owner had left.
“So I have been used to this type of job before, it’s probably everything I expected to be honest.”