THROUGH thick and thin, Ryan Brierley and Paul Rowley have struck a remarkable relationship.
From their times at Leigh, Toronto and now Salford, the pair often come in tandem, and it’s fair to say that Rowley has been able to get the very best out of Brierley in recent years.
But, with the situation at the Red Devils continuing to look bleak, Rowley has struggled to maintain a team as financial issues plague his ability to keep his best players at the club.
The likes of Marc Sneyd, Kallum Watkins and Brad Singleton have all departed Salford and Brierley feels that Rowley “deserves better”.
“It’s his team he’s put together and that’s being ripped apart. It should have been his last year as a coach and he would have wanted to make it a good one,” Brierley said on Sky Sports.
“I think he deserves better. In November and December, questions were asked to Paul Rowley ‘do you want to sell Marc Sneyd, Ryan Brierley etc’ and he said no.
“Paul King (Salford’s former chief executive) backed those decisions and Paul was under the impression going into January and February that he had a great team but didn’t know we couldn’t afford it.”
Now, Brierley confesses, Rowley has no say in players exiting Salford.
“What you’ve got now is Chris Irwin (Salford’s new CEO) and the new ownership group, who are putting the measures in place to sell players and Paul Rowley hasn’t got a say in it.
“Paul Rowley didn’t have a say in Kallum Watkins getting sold because if he had have been asked the answer would have been ‘definitely not’.
“But now that decision has been made regardless of Paul Rowley because we are in such a tough spot.”
Brierley also touched upon Rowley’s loyalty, with the Salford boss staying at the Super League side despite approaches from Hull FC and Leeds Rhinos.
“I rang him the other day and asked if he was alright and I know he isn’t. It’s probably a daft question me asking him that but I actually don’t know where his head is at.
“I suppose he is holding on to that one percent hope like me because he had opportunities to go to Hull and Leeds and didn’t go for some reason.”
