Paul Rowley identifies possible ‘finish line’ for Salford Red Devils saga

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley has identified a possible ‘finish line’ for when the current club disruption could end.

So far in the 2025 season, there has yet to be a week of ‘normality’ for the Red Devils barring perhaps Round Two when they were able to field their full-strength team but were still handily beaten by Leeds Rhinos, something Rowley put down to the mental strain built up across the pre-season.

Since then, the Red Devils have been placed back under a restricted salary cap and that has seen numerous player exits including Marc Sneyd, Brad Singleton and Tim Lafai, whilst new ones are now being reported such as Kallum Watkins.

Watkins was one of two senior players who reportedly refused to play this past weekend against Wigan Warriors as the Red Devils had to field a team comprising loanees, academy players and a number of injured first-teamers, with the Salford boss having previously revealed three would play thanks to painkilling injections.

To nobody’s surprise, Wigan ran riot as they won 54-0 but the fight and grit of Salford was brilliant to see, despite questions of whether they should have been allowed to play on account of player welfare.

Having confirmed earlier in the week that there was no apparent end in sight, Paul Rowley spoke post-match to BBC Radio Manchester with a more positive update.

Paul Rowley identifies possible ‘finish line’ for Salford Red Devils saga

Asked about the current club status whereby they are limping from week to week, uncertain of what comes next, Rowley stated: “It can’t continue,” before explaining his “rationale” for when it could feasibly end.

He explained: “When you set off on a race you want to know where the finish line is don’t you? So, I think it’s felt a little bit like we’ve been told to go but we don’t know when it will finish.

“But, in my head, and this is totally only my emotion and rationale, is that the middle to end of April is the proposed date for taking over and purchasing the stadium and to me, with that obviously comes funds.

“That’s the finish line that I set myself as a target.”

Whether that ‘finish line’ is actually the end of the saga or just another false dawn is yet to be seen and depends almost entirely on the club’s new ownership group actually making good on the bold statements they made when taking the club over, namely that they had cleared all debts.

Club CEO Chris Irwin has confirmed that money has started to “trickle in” but Salford have unfortunately had to add money to their wage bill this week just to field a team with under-21 players counting as £18,000 on the cap once they play two games.

The likes of Josh Wagstaffe, Finlay Yates and Jimmy Shields all played in Round One against St Helens, so are now all added to Salford’s cap in another major outlay of funds, whilst little comes in.

“I’m privileged to be here” – Rowley puts Salford saga in perspective

From minute 1-80, thank you to our travelling supporters for your backing – it means the world 👹❤️ pic.twitter.com/QQceYu8mWQ

— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) March 30, 2025

Despite the huge defeat that came at an expensive cost in terms of wages, Rowley had spoken with plenty of pride post-match on Sky Sports and he moved to put the situation into context when speaking on the radio.

He also confirmed that he had been prepared for the ‘bumpy ride’, stating: “I’ve been at clubs before, I remember at Toronto when I told the lads on day one that ‘this will be one hell of a bumpy ride’ and so in my head, and this is just me, I knew it was going to be bumpy so I’m alright.

“I’m privileged to be here and privileged to do this job with the group that I do it with.”

On perspective, he said: “I went to a thing the other day, I’m an ambassador for the homeless so I went to the Mayor’s charity gala dinner. You want to talk about people having tough times, go and listen to them who have experienced homelessness.

“There are lots of people in this world who are worse off. It’s a privilege to be here so if this is tough as life gets then we’re pretty lucky.”

When so much uncertainty surrounds not only his club but the sport at a larger scale, it’s fair to say that Paul Rowley remains one of the sport’s best assets.