Nene Macdonald opens up on his Salford Red Devils return following NRL comments

Nene Macdonald is back training with Salford Red Devils and excited about what Paul Rowley’s side can achieve as they approach the 2025 Super League season. Macdonald was selected to represent Papua New Guinea in autumn and his international involvement meant he was given an extended off-season break.

It was during his time on international duty that Macdonald made headlines after claiming that he would be willing to make the move back to the NRL. The centre was consistent in his message, insisting he was more than happy at Salford, but never shied away from his ambition to play in the sport’s premier competition once more.

As such, the images of Macdonald training at the Salford Community Stadium will have come as a welcome relief to Salford fans and his words in the first interview since his return will be even more heartening.

“It’s actually pretty good to be back,” he told Salford Red Devils’ club media. “I missed the cold so I’m enjoying being back on the field with the boys.”

He added: “It’s massive these next four weeks with me and Timmy [Lafai] back we’ve got a full squad now so we need to start sharpening the tools and getting ready for the season. We finished good last year but not where we wanted and I think we can go a lot further than we did last season so I’m excited for the season coming up.

“We’ve signed some good players and we’re gelling more. We have Esan [Marsters] here and Jayden [Nikorima] who only came at the back end of the year and a pre-season would do well for us with him gelling in properly. Across the board all the boys are training well and I think we’ll go really well.”

Macdonald was always going to play a key role at Salford last season but he managed to surpass expectations with his performances in red. In 26 games he scored 12 tries and that was enough to land him a spot in the 2024 Super League Dream Team.

“I definitely shot higher than I thought I would and I think that’s a big thanks to the club, the boys and the coaching staff,” he added. “They let me express myself throughout the year and play the footy that I wanted to play and allowed me to be at myself so a massive thanks to the club and everyone here.”

“As a group I think it’s one of the best teams I’ve been apart of and when you enjoy playing footy it translates onto the field.”