Salford Red Devils boss calls on RFL change amidst “impossible” situation claim

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley has explained how the Rugby Football League have made matters “impossible” for the club.

The RFL have come in for criticism regarding their handling of the Salford Red Devils situation, however, CEO Tony Sutton defended the governing body last Thursday when speaking about the Super League club.

Sutton claimed the RFL had “played the ball that’s in front of us” but admitted that their handling would be reviewed, as it would for “many situations and scenarios”.

He also denied any suggestion that the RFL had created a player welfare issue for Salford, arguing Salford were set the sustainability cap back in November and the club had “time to plan how it would be able to work within that”.

One of the ways that Salford have chosen to ‘work within that’ is by utilising loan players, however, the Red Devils have now hit a stumbling block after their latest two additions of Jake Thewlis and Harvey Makin.

RFL refuse Salford Red Devils request as Paul Rowley reveals impact

Super League teams are only able to field a maximum of six loan players in a matchday 17 and the Red Devils have currently reached that cap after the signings of Tiaki Chan (Wigan Warriors), George Hill (Castleford Tigers), Jonny Vaughan (St Helens), Toby Warren (Leeds Rhinos), and the latest two announced in Thewlis and Makin.

Under a directive from the RFL to cut costs, the easiest way to do that being to sell players, Salford find themselves in a situation where they cannot bring in replacements for any sales they make.

As such, sales would simply thins their squad and create yet more player welfare issues with Rowley having already conceded that players have played injured.

Rowley explained: “I think you can have six so we can’t have any more now but our narrative was to get rid of players and bring loan players in so we can’t possibly get rid of any players either if we can’t bring anybody else in, otherwise we won’t be able to fulfill fixtures if that’s the case.”

Asked about the difficulty of the situation, he said: “It’s not harder (to sell players), it’s impossible. Yeah, it’s challenging but sometimes, we quite enjoy the challenge so we’ll see where we get.”

He had also confirmed that Red Devils had been refused a request to the RFL of any dispensation, something which Rowley questioned given the exceptional circumstances that Salford find themselves in.

Rowley revealed: “The initial response yesterday was ‘No, we’ve never done that before so it’s a no’, but I don’t think anyone’s had a situation like this before so we’ll keep asking that same question but it’s a solid no as we speak.”

Paul Rowley piles praise on loanees and gives injury update on Ryan Brierley

Looking ahead to their game in the South of France against Catalans, Rowley provided a fitness update on his squad. He would also confirm that outside back Deon Cross hasn’t trained since last week amidst reports that St Helens are keen to sign him.

On his squad, Rowley said: “Tiaki’s back after his concussion protocol so yeah, it’s never going to be easy. It’s going to be a long one, that’s for sure, but we’ll be there and we’ll have 17 players.

“We’ve got Harvey Makin and Jake Thewlis who will both play at the weekend so two young men to join the others, we’ve got a young team now, which is different.”

He also confirmed that club captain Ryan Brierley would be available, having seemingly overcome his hamstring injury, with the full-back being one of very few senior players left in the squad.

On his squad and their chances, he said: “As I said to the lads and I continuously said to this group, everybody’s an individual on a very unique and individual journey. So we’ll facilitate that for them. If we bring them individual efforts together then we’ll give ourselves a good opportunity in whatever we do.

“What I’ll say is, I think every lad that’s come and joined us this year, I can’t speak highly enough of their character in particular and their efforts and their ability as well. So if this becomes a stepping stone for them on their career or if they end up being here longer, whichever route that it takes, it’ll be a privilege to be a part of their journey.”

Asked how he has been coping with the ongoing drama, Rowley’s response highlighting what a credit he is to himself, Salford and the sport of rugby league.

“You’re asking me how do I cope?, ” he responded, adding: “Doing the job that I love, working with a load of lads that are great, turning up to work and then having a day off and finishing early and playing about on a grass field in the sunshine. If life’s that bad mate, then it’s a good life.”

Prop forward, Harvey Makin has joined the Club on a month-long loan from Wigan Warriors 🔄

Welcome to Salford, Harvey! 👹

— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) April 15, 2025