RFL “hopeful” Salford Red Devils complete the season as CEO bats back player welfare question

The RFL “remain very, very hopeful” that crisis club Salford Red Devils will get through this season and be part of the top-flight next year.

That’s the message from the governing body’s chief executive Tony Sutton at the end of another testing week for Salford on and off the field and with no sign of the Red Devils’ plight improving.

Sutton was a spectator at Salford Community Stadium last night (Thursday) when the Red Devils suffered their sixth defeat from seven Betfred Super League games this year, going down 28-0 to Leeds Rhinos.

It was the third time Salford have been nilled this season and their side included just nine of the team beaten at home by Leeds in round two. Among the players missing were Kallum Watkins – following his move to Rhinos – and Deon Cross, who is being linked with St Helens.

The club were bought by an overseas consortium in February, but – with the money yet to land – have been forced to sell some players and not select others in order to meet a £1.2m sustainability salary cap imposed by the RFL.

As a B-grade club under the IMG rankings, Salford were already vulnerable to the threat of relegation and the continuing crisis has left a huge question mark hanging over their top-flight future, but Sutton reckons they can bring value to the competition.

“No set deadlines” for Salford Red Devils despite current crisis

“The play-off game [against Leigh Leopards] at the end of last year was a tremendous spectacle for our sport,” Sutton said in an impromptu press conference at last night’s match.

“I think we would want to see a return to that type of event here and the super-positive outcomes of events like that for the city of Salford and fans of the sport and club. That’s what we want to see more and more often.”

Asked if he thinks Salford will remain an elite-level club, Sutton insisted: “I absolutely hope so. Our objective is a positive outcome for fans, spectators and sponsors and players and staff of the club as well – and 12 clubs starting and finishing the men’s Super League. We will do what we can to provide the support to allow the club to do that.”

The crisis has been rumbling on since last autumn, but Sutton stressed Salford have not been given a time limit to get their house in order.

“From our point of view, there will be no set deadlines,” he said. “We will look at each week as it unfolds.

“In terms of the sustainability cap, for a positive outcome we would want to see positive actions taken by the club [and] increased assurance about financial sustainability of the club on a more longer-term basis. That could, therefore, lead to a change in that cap.”

RFL bat back player welfare questions as limited cap explained

Salford have slashed their wage bill and Sutton accepted that is a “quite big move in terms of moving towards a more financially sustainable model for the club”.

He added: “Those are actions for the club to take and decide which are most relevant. We will assess that as they take those decisions.”

Though coach Paul Rowley has been forced to field a host of young, inexperienced squad members in an attempt to keep the wage bill down, Sutton denied the RFL are putting players’ safety and welfare at risk.

He said: “The sustainability cap was set back in late November or early December and it was set early to give the club time to plan how it would be able to work within that.

“The management of that cap is a club choice and decision, it is up to them how they do so. We can set the framework, but it’s up to the club to take the actions to deal with that how they choose to. We will react to the situation that’s in front of us, but we won’t set timescales on that.”