Salford Red Devils coach Paul Rowley is counting the cost of more injuries as he prepares for St Helens this Friday with a good portion of his salary cap sitting in the stands.
The Red Devils, who have not won since they beat Leeds Rhinos on March 18th, conceded a very late try to Jai Field to go down 30-24 at the DW Stadium on Sunday.
Marc Sneyd, Dan Sarginson, Joe Burgess, Shane Wright, Harvey Livett, Tim Lafai and James Greenwood all missed the defeat, while Elijah Taylor and Ryan Brierley both went off with serious looking knocks.
Despite those setbacks, Rowley was pleased with the effort he received from Kallum Watkins after his first start of the season following a ten-month layout with an ACL injury.
Rowley said: “We have no players returning for the Saints game and we’ll probably be missing a couple from this game. Elijah Taylor will miss out with a concussion and that will be eleven days.
“Kallum looks like an international player again. He was brilliant, as were Brodie Croft and Ryan Brierley in the first half. They were outstanding. But a lot of our salary cap is sat on the sidelines. You kick yourself and wonder what if.
Rowley admitted he cannot the fault the effort of his team, but he would love to have a full squad to choose from.
“Proud but disappointed is probably the fair assessment of it,” he added.
“Overall, to throw any criticism at the group would be totally incorrect. I thought the effort and commitment was good. They have shown that they are good players. There are a lot of positives and a lot of things we can take from it.”
Salford forward Jack Ormondroyd says the Red Devils are working hard to rediscover the winning habit.
“We’re all pulling in the same direction and we’re putting in the hours to try and get back on track,” said former Featherstone prop Ormondroyd.
“We had a good pre-season and started the year well, with wins against Castleford and Toulouse, and we also beat Leeds, so we know we have what’s required.”
Salford have one of Super League’s most prolific scorers in Australian winger Ken Sio.
The former Parramatta Eels, Hull KR and Newcastle Knights man has already notched 13 tries this time around, having clocked up 19 last year.
But 276 points have been conceded in ten games, and Ormondroyd acknowledged: “We know we need to beef up our defence, and there’s plenty of emphasis being put on it.
“If we can manage that, it will go a long way to helping us get more wins on the board, because we have some great attacking options.”
It’s a second crack at Super League for Ormondroyd, who had two years at Leeds in between two spells at Featherstone, from whom Salford signed him ahead of the 2020 campaign.
“To have that time with the Rhinos was great, but I was perhaps a little bit raw to make that kind of move at that stage of my career (in 2017),” added the 30-year-old.
“This time I feel more equipped, both physically and mentally. I’m nicely settled at Salford and I’m really enjoying being a full-time player.”
The above content is also available in the regular weekly edition of League Express, on newsstands every Monday in the UK and as a digital download. Click here for more details.