“I don’t want to be disrespectful but…” – Rowley explains Salford’s defeat to St Helens

Salford Red Devils went from leading 12-0 against St Helens to losing 26-12 to the Champions this afternoon.

After the game Salford coach Paul Rowley was asked to assess what went wrong and he laid the blame at his side for their lack of discipline with the ball:

“We definitely left a lot of points on the field but discipline with the ball hurt us more than anything.

“The game in the second half was just too quick so, I’ll tell our boys that we lost it but I don’t want to be disrespectful but we were playing against a Champion team and they beat us up in the second half which is disappointing but we will say we left a lot out on the field and weren’t at our best in the second half.”

He also said that injuries didn’t help them:

“Absolutely, our ball control was woeful, our discipline with the ball. We needed a bit of luck and we had a couple of bodies who went off injured so that hurt us sub wise and energy wise and that doesn’t help.

“We probably could have done with some strong decisions, that would have helped but we left too much on the field.”

With a Challenge Cup clash waiting, Rowley is concerned about being able to have the bodies needed to win:

“No problem getting this side up and we saw the character of the team in the fact Saints didn’t score more points, the problem is the bodies and that is always the problem.

“Saints have a good squad and we have a good team.

“We’re in a bit of a dark place now.”