Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley gave his verdict following his side’s first win in Super League since March.
The Red Devils won 26-22 but it wasn’t plain sailing for Salford who lost three of their overseas players to injury, two of whom could be possible long-term blows.
Loghan Lewis made his season debut but failed a HIA within 30 seconds which rules him out next week whilst both Jayden Nikorima (wrist) and Esan Marsters (dislocated shoulder) were seen in slings after suffering injuries.
As such, a number of players were asked to play long minutes and Rowley pointed to that when speaking about the win post-match on Sky Sports.
He said: “It was tough conditions out there. I think we played the second half with one interchange. Chris Hill and Jack (Ormondroyd) were doing tremendous minutes,” before noting what it was that helped his side overcome the odds and land a famous win.
“I think our character to be honest, you put it down to character and some quality from certain individuals in the first half, but a lot of character.”
Rugby Union convert impresses on Salford debut
One of those who Rowley paid specific credit to was rugby union convert Declan Murphy with the former Saracens sevens player brought on after Nikorima’s injury. He came on at full-back as Ryan Brierley shifted to the halves, with Murphy putting in an error-free and impactful performance.
Rowley said: “Everybody was having a dig and young Declan Murphy there coming on on debut, that sort of thing does a smile on your face, doesn’t it?
“I can’t take too much credit. He did a little spell there at Wigan and we got told about him, but we’ve thrown him in when we have to rather than through choice and we’re really pleased with him.”
Oliver Russell also debuted having joined from Wakefield Trinity and with more injuries sustained, Salford could look to the loan market once again.
“You’ve got to be (be adept in the loan market),” Rowley confirmed, adding: “You’ve got to dig deep. We’ve had some difficult times, obviously, but everybody who’s been here from our club or from any other club on the short-term or long-term have been fantastic. I can’t speak highly enough of them.
“I’m just pleased for the fans, to be honest. I’m really pleased for the fans. They’ve been fantastic and consistent from start to finish.”
Salford Red Devils staff have ‘confidence’ of avoiding Super League wooden spoon
Having overcome the injuries and the situation to land their second win of the year, Rowley was asked if he thought his side were ‘thriving in adversity’, something he disagreed with.
Explaining why, he said: “I wouldn’t want to say we’re thriving, I just think we don’t accept it, or we don’t bow down. They just keep going, the boys. There’ll be good days and bad days, we know that. We’ve not had any good days, so we’ll enjoy today.
“It’s a short turnaround to Leeds, and it doesn’t get any easier, obviously. You just mentioned the two guys we’ve just lost, and that’s a massive blow for us but I think we’ve took every day as it comes, and we’ll do the same this week. We’ll have a crack at it and see what it brings.”
Whilst Salford are still no chance of making the play-offs, they have now closed the gap on Huddersfield Giants in 11th but the Red Devils’ head coach wouldn’t be drawn on goals.
He explained: “We’ll just keep trying, and we’ll see where we get. I think we all, certainly as a staff, we have confidence that we can scrape our way off that bottom. Like I said before, we’ve had a turnaround of players that seems never-ending, so we’ve got to reinstate our values, and hope and belief into every new player that comes to the club.
“It’s not a case of goal setting at the beginning, and then revisiting at this point in the year. It’s just a continuous progression, if you like. Like I said before, we’ll just keep fighting until we can’t fight any more.”
𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗙𝗘𝗟𝗧 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗! 😍 👹
🤝 Salmon Kings & @hselec_ pic.twitter.com/7nGOgb23HM
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) July 13, 2025
Anonymous
July 15, 2025 at 11:22 am
What a great performance by the Salford players and staff, this certainly takes the pressure off the Salford benevolent owners doesn’t it, what a shame that all rugby league clubs are not owned by owners such as Salford’s, where would we be if they were; where indeed?
Not heard much congratulations to Salford from ex Saints know it all.