Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley has named a 17-man squad for Friday night’s scheduled clash with Castleford Tigers. The Red Devils’ side is compliant with the £1.2 million sustainability cap that has been imposed on them, but it is different to the one that was named earlier in the season when Salford took on Midlands Hurricanes in the Challenge Cup.
That’s because the club have been given permission to make a handful of changes to their group, with Marc Sneyd, Kallum Watkins and Chris Hill being made eligible to play by the Red Devils. As it stands the players that will be involved at Wheldon Road still haven’t been paid and it remains to be seen if they will before kick-off on Friday.
The 17-man squad Rowley has named features plenty of Salford’s star men, but it is also missing more than a few key names, too, with injury, suspension and sustainability cap restrictions taking their toll. As such, the likes of Tim Lafai and Brad Singleton won’t be involved, while Jayden Nikorima and Joe Shorrocks are banned.
Given the size of the squad, it’s obvious who Rowley will be asking to pull on a Salford shirt on Friday, but how will his somewhat makeshift side line up?
Well, with no Nikorima or Lafai, Rowley will have to make changes to his back line, with Chris Hankinson the obvious centre fit. Hankinson can expect to see Nene Macdonald, Esan Marsters and Deon Cross alongside him in the outside backs, while Ryan Brierley will be given the nod at full-back.
Sneyd looks set to continue at seven but he could play alongside young half-back Kai Morgan, who represented the Red Devils in opening round at St Helens.
With Singleton missing, Rowley will likely look to one of Joe Bullock or Justin Sangare to start in the front-row alongside Jack Ormondroyd, with Chris Atkin in at hooker once more. Watkins is available and included in the restricted squad meaning Rowley can avoid making changes at loose-forward or back-row.
That leaves four men to make up the bench, with one of Sangare or Bullock, Tiaki Chan, Harvey Wilson and Matty Foster the likely interchange options. Of course, both Salford Red Devils and Castleford Tigers are looking for their first win of the new season and on paper, the visitors still have more than enough to claim the victory over Danny McGuire’s side.
Given those players haven’t been paid, though, it’s hard to imagine the two points being at the forefront of their minds.
Expected Salford Red Devils line up to play Castleford Tigers: Ryan Brierley; Nene Macdonald, Chris Hankinson, Esan Marsters, Deon Cross, Kai Morgan, Marc Sneyd; Joe Bullock, Chris Atkin, Jack Ormondroyd, Shane Wright, Kallum Watkins; Chris Hill.
Bench: Justin Sangare, Tiaki Chan, Harvey Wilson, Matty Foster.
Our Round 4 squad 👇 pic.twitter.com/mKlAzL3URf
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) March 5, 2025
