LEAGUE EXPRESS previews the season for Salford Red Devils under another new head coach.
THE DEPARTURES
Richard Marshall paid the price for an eleventh-placed finish last season as his reign as head coach came to an end after just a solitary season.
The playing squad has undergone significant changes too, with many players moved on. For some it was the end of the line altogether – former England halfback Kevin Brown has hung up the boots, while captain and prop Lee Mossop was forced to do likewise through injury.
Brown isn’t the only departure from the halves, as Tui Lolohea has joined Huddersfield, reuniting with former Salford coach Ian Watson, while Declan Patton has dropped out of Super League after one disappointing year at the AJ Bell Stadium and is now with Bradford.
Ata Hingano only played five games after his mid-season arrival, but he’s another halfback on the move, signing for Leigh Centurions, who have also snapped up Ed Chamberlain from Salford after the winger failed to nail down a spot in the team in his four seasons at the club.
Pauli Pauli will also be plying his trade in the Championship next season as the former Wakefield prop moves on to York.
Former New Zealand international outside back Krisnan Inu left the club after three years in which he helped them reach both major finals and has since joined Lézignan in the French Elite One competition.
Salford also relied on several loanees last season, including the Huddersfield pair of Sebastine Ikahihifo and Oliver Roberts, who are now back in contention for their parent clubs.
THE ARRIVALS
Alex Gerrard’s signing late in pre-season brought the number of new recruits for Salford up to double figures, with head coach Paul Rowley having a fresh squad to work with after stepping up from a backroom role in rugby development to be Marshall’s successor.
Gerrard, previously a long-serving Widnes prop, joined following his release from relegated Leigh, who also provide one of the standout additions in fullback Ryan Brierley.
Rowley is reuniting with Brierley following spells together at Leigh and Toronto, and on the back of possibly the best season of his career for the Centurions.
Brierley could form part of an impressive spine alongside Brodie Croft and Marc Sneyd, two new halfbacks, who will have a huge bearing on Salford’s success this season.
Croft, a star in the making starting out at Melbourne, has joined from Brisbane after two difficult years and the 24-year-old will be looking to get his career back on track by leading the Red Devils to success.
He’ll play alongside an established Super League star in Marc Sneyd, who after seven seasons and two Challenge Cups has returned to first club Salford from Hull FC.
Sneyd and Gerrard are two of the three signings to be made under Rowley’s watch since his appointment in November, the other being Samoan centre Tim Lafai, who joins from Canterbury with a decade of NRL experience.
Shane Wright completes a trio of additions from Down Under, the backrower arriving from North Queensland Cowboys, where he made 41 NRL appearances.
Sitaleki Akauola and King Vuniyayawa bring experience from both hemispheres to the Salford pack, having joined from Warrington and Leeds respectively.
Amir Bourouh has also moved from a Super League rival in Wigan, and the 21-year-old hooker could potentially prove to be an astute signing.
So too could winger Deon Cross, whose 18 tries for Championship side Widnes last season were enough to attract attention and earn a crack at Super League.
THE SPINE
It’s certainly going to be a new-look spine for Salford, who will be pinning their hopes on how Brierley, Croft and Sneyd all combine this season.
Morgan Escaré and Chris Atkin will want a say in that, however, having both been regular starters last season at fullback and halfback respectively.
Frenchman Escaré, who can also play on the wing, is getting his career back on track after some fallow years preceding his Wigan exit, while versatile pivot Atkin will be doing his best to earn a spot somewhere in the side in what will be the former Hull KR man’s third season at the club.
Atkin played across the halfback positions and at hooker last year, though he faces competition at number nine as well, with Bourouh joining Andy Ackers in that position.
Ackers is another to have played under Rowley at Toronto and will expect to be the first-choice hooker like last season, completing a potentially exciting spine.
THE PACK
New club captain Elijah Taylor, a former Kiwi international with almost 200 NRL appearances in the bank, will look to lead the side from loose forward and bring his experience to the fore in his second season in Super League.
Shane Wright will hope to nail down a place in the second row, while James Greenwood has been promoted to a starting shirt ahead of fellow ex-Hull KR man Ryan Lannon.
Harvey Livett isn’t in the top 13 for squad numbers but started 20 games last season, his first at the club since joining from Warrington.
Jack Wells and Danny Addy will also aim to provide competition across the back row, though each only played ten matches last year.
At the front of the pack, the best jerseys have gone to new boy Akauola and Greg Burke, who is entering his fourth season as a permanent squad member is now one of Salford’s longest-serving players.
Providing depth at prop are Vuniyayawa and Gerrard plus Jack Ormondroyd, Josh Johnson and Sam Luckley, who all got decent game time last year and will aim for more.
THE THREEQUARTERS
The outside backs are where Salford have the most continuity going into 2022, with Tim Lafai and Deon Cross the only two new additions in those positions.
Lafai has a starting squad number at centre along with Kallum Watkins, though the former Leeds man will miss the first couple of months of the season through injury.
That could give Dan Sarginson, heading into his second season since joining from Wigan, a chance to stake his claim there, while Matt Costello is also in contention.
On the wing, Salford boast Super League’s top try scorer last season in Ken Sio, who crossed 19 times in as many matches.
If Cross wants to earn a place in the side there are two other experienced campaigners to get ahead of in the pecking order, in Joe Burgess and Rhys Williams.
THE YOUNGSTERS
Salford were unsuccessful last season in their attempt to be given an elite Academy licence, meaning they remain without the flow of young players into the first team that most other Super League clubs can enjoy.
As a result, the only youngster in the squad for this season is recruit Bourouh, who recently turned 21 and joined after seven years in the Wigan system. He played nine games for their first team in Super League, and ten times in a loan spell at Halifax last term.
A REALISTIC AIM FOR 2022
Salford made a change of head coach with the knowledge that last season’s eleventh-placed finish left them potentially vulnerable this time around if there is a relegation battle.
Having reached two major finals in the past three years, there is always a hope that they could upset the odds once again, but the priority will be achieving safety, ideally with some comfort.
There has been a big turnover and much will depend on how the new-look spine combines on the field. If it hits its potential, the Red Devils should have nothing to worry about.
Squad numbers: 1 Ryan Brierley, 2 Ken Sio, 3 Kallum Watkins, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Joe Burgess, 6 Brodie Croft, 7 Marc Sneyd, 8 Sitaleki Akauola, 9 Andy Ackers, 10 Greg Burke, 11 Shane Wright, 12 James Greenwood, 13 Elijah Taylor, 14 Danny Addy, 15 King Vuniyayawa, 16 Ryan Lannon, 17 Harvey Livett, 18 Chris Atkin, 19 Jack Ormondroyd, 20 Jack Wells, 21 Josh Johnson, 22 Rhys Williams, 23 Dan Sarginson, 24 Matt Costello, 25 Morgan Escaré, 26 Sam Luckley, 27 Amir Bourouh, 28 Deon Cross, 29 Alex Gerrard
Ins: Sitaleki Akauola (Warrington Wolves), Amir Bourouh (Wigan Warriors), Ryan Brierley (Leigh Centurions), Brodie Croft (Brisbane Broncos), Deon Cross (Widnes Vikings), Alex Gerrard (Leigh Centurions), Tim Lafai (Canterbury Bulldogs), Marc Sneyd (Hull FC), King Vuniyayawa (Leeds Rhinos), Shane Wright (North Queensland Cowboys)
Outs: Kevin Brown (retired), Ed Chamberlain (Leigh Centurions), Ata Hingano (Leigh Centurions), Sebastine Ikahihifo (loanee return to parent club), Krishna Inu (Lézignan), Tui Lolohea (Huddersfield Giants), Darcy Lussick (released), Lee Mossop (retired), Declan Patton (Bradford Bulls), Pauli Pauli (York City Knights), Oliver Roberts (loanee return to parent club), Ellis Robson (loanee return to parent club)
Coaching team
Head coach: Paul Rowley
Assistant coach: Kurt Haggerty
Assistant coach: Danny Orr
Strength & Conditioning head: Gareth Whittaker
Assistant Strength & Conditioner: Jake Batsford
Reserves head coach: Stuart Wilkinson
Reserves assistant coach: Danny Barton
Development Academy head coach: Danny Barton
Reserves coaching coordinator and head of reserves recruitment: John Fieldhouse
Head of REDS programme: Chris Irwin
Head physio: David Ferguson
Assistant physio: Josh Thompson
Lead soft tissue therapist: Sarah O’Neill
Head of performance analysis: Chris Nelson
Kitman: Paul Scanlon-Wells
Club management
Managing Director: Paul King
Director of rugby and operations: Ian Blease
Club secretary: Tracey Costello
Commercial Director: George Harborne
Relationships manager: Hannah Kilby
Commercial sales executive: Joseph Warner
Events and Project manager: Marcelle Lock
Media and Marketing manager: David Pennington
Media and PR executive: Luke Wallworth
Multimedia executive: Charlotte May
Club Colours
Home shirt: Predominantly red with a black chevron
Away shirt: Predominantly black with yellow flashes
Betfred odds to win the Grand Final: 66/1
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.
