Salford Red Devils

Paul Rowley picks out “one-off” star and confirms no contact with Salford Red Devils owners

by
Sam Cook
May 18, 2025

Salford Red Devils coach Paul Rowley picked out his “one-off” star after his side’s loss to Castleford Tigers and spoke briefly on the club’s owners.

The Red Devils’ owners have been in the news this week with Salford City Council confirming that they would be ending all negotiations with the current ownership group over the sale of the stadium.

That raised major questions about the ownership’s next steps but it seems that one of those steps was to attend the game at Wheldon Road where they watched Salford lose 48-16 in a match where the scoreboard blew out and was potentially harsh on the Red Devils.

The half-time scoreline of 24-0 certainly seemed harsh and Paul Rowley was asked about that when speaking to Sky Sports post-match, with the Salford boss agreeing but conceding his side were simply beaten to the punch physically.

Rowley explained: “Well the stats probably suggested that it was closer in terms of territory and possession and all the other things but I just thought ultimately that they were a lot bigger than us and they played bigger than us, physically with the ball and without the ball.

“Unfortunately, this game is a gladiatorial sport and physicality is the main attribute that you need and today we weren’t physical enough.”

Nene Macdonald and effort praised but Salford lose again

Despite the 24-0 scoreline at halftime, Salford hit back with two quickfire scores after the break and the chance of a comeback looked on but ultimately never came.

That wasn’t for a lack of effort, as highlighted by Ryan Brierley’s 78th minute try-saver when the game was well and truly gone. Rowley ensured to praise the spirit but admitted that it’s becoming repetitive.

He joked: “It must be hard for you guys asking me the same questions every week, as it is for me answering them, but there’s obviously lots of character and there are lots of lads in there who’s having a real dig and having a fight.

“You can see the fighting spirit but it’s difficult and like I said, I just think physically we were second best today in all areas.”

One boost for Salford was the return of Nene Macdonald with the Papua New Guinean international scoring two tries and Rowley pointed to him as someone they can potentially build off in the coming weeks.

“He’s not match fit by any means but you can see there he’s a bit of a one-off isn’t he Nene,” Rowley assessed.

“He makes things happen. He’s a huge athlete. His ability is second to none. It’s certainly great to have Nene back.

“He does create opportunities for us. If he’s not scoring, he’ll be setting them up. It would be nice if we could build and start playing off the back of Nene and get some results as well.”

What Paul Rowley said about Salford Red Devils’ owners

Another thing that was potentially a positive was the ownership’s decision to attend an away game, though Paul Rowley confirmed that he had no contact with them, insisting that his job remains on-field and nothing else.

“No, I’m day to day me, I keep the faith and I just stay positive all the time,” he explained when asked if he’d had any update or contact from the ownership group.

Expanding on his day to day mantra, he said: “So as regards to anything else, whether it’s happened yesterday or what’s going to happen tomorrow, I don’t concern myself. I concern myself with today otherwise my head would have fell off a long time ago.

“I’ve got to stand in front of them players now and tomorrow as well in review. It’s important that I’m positive and I find the motivation for myself and for them as well.”