Paul Rowley highlights costly turning point after Salford Red Devils’ season-best performance

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley has highlighted the turning point in his side’s narrow defeat to Warrington Wolves.

Wire won 24-12 in very hard-fought fashion with Salford the better side for large periods but simply unable to sustain the effort for the full 80 minutes with cheap tries being the downfall of the Red Devils.

It marked a season-best performance for Salford, something which Paul Rowley agreed upon when interviewed by Sky Sports and explaining why he said it was because his side ‘competed’.

” said two weeks ago that I saw some green shoots in there and we’ve got some personnel and we’ve got what resembled a competitive team,” the head coach explained, before outlining a costly turning point.

“I thought we had a good dig and we were unlucky. There was a couple of moments probably that just took the game away from us. I think the lost challenge for the ruck infringement was a big turning point, but they were great.

“Again, we’re not happy about losing or anything like that, but it shows there’s something to work with.”

‘Positive signs around the corner’ for Salford Red Devils

That lost captain’s challenge came around the hour mark with Jack Ormondroyd ruled to have been holding Toby King’s shirt as the Wire centre stood up to play the ball. It came late in the tackle count and was a huge pressure release for a Warrington side who were massively under the pump.

Minutes later, Salford had a try ruled out when a Warrington defender was tackled in the air by Ethan Ryan, however, Paul Rowley had no complaints over the decision.

“It was a close call but the right call. On review, it was really tight but it’s just one of them things,” he accepted.

“There’s some moments. I thought we gave away too many penalties coming out of yardage and we didn’t get any on the opposite side so it’s little things like that but the lads did really well.

“It will be a really positive review and again, we’re not happy we’re losing, but credit to Warrington. They got the job done but there’s a lot of positives for us and something to build on.”

Pointing to any negatives from the performance, Rowley said: “Losing Dan Russell early, hopefully he’s all right and then there are a couple of other broken bodies who came off as well. Hopefully we get a couple more back and there are some positive signs around the corner and maybe a few more troops as well. We’ll keep battling and keep trying and try to improve and get better.”

They’ll now head into Round 18 to face a struggling Castleford Tigers and when asked if he felt his side could be deemed favourites for the game, Rowley refused to be drawn but confirmed his side will be confident.

He explained: “We believe every week, you know, no matter who we’re playing. We wouldn’t disrespect Castleford. I think they have been great, they’re building as well and historically, they always give us a really tough challenge, so I’ve got a lot of respect for them.

“It’s just another game for us. It really is about what we do. I think we stopped worrying about the opposition a long time ago. Just worry about these lads and getting the best out of them.”

An incredible effort by the boys, but we just fall short.

🤝 @AMWStairlifts & @hselec_ pic.twitter.com/NLXKP9ydDu

— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) July 4, 2025