Salford Red Devils went down 30-24 to Wakefield Trinity today at Belle Vue.
After being down 24-4 at half-time, the Red Devils posted four tries to Trinity’s one in the second forty minutes, but head coach Paul Rowley was hugely disappointed with the result.
“We dipped our toe in the water and you can’t do that at this level,” Rowley said.
“As is frequent we’ve got a team that tried really hard but lacked resilience defensively.
“It’s a choice and we spoke about that in the dressing room – I thought we were really good with the ball.
“We made metres quite comfortably and our execution was pretty good – to get five tries at this level away from home should have been enough to win.”
Rowley also explained why Joe Burgess didn’t play.
“He had a clunky knee, if it would have been a cup final we would have played him.
“It would have been a risk to play him but he will be alright for next week.”
Salford, meanwhile, will now have a two-week break after being chucked out of the Challenge Cup by Wigan Warriors last week before they come up against Warrington Wolves.
The Salford boss did, however, confirm shattering injuries for Dan Sarginson, Shane Wright and James Greenwood.
“Sarge (Dan Sarginson) will need an operation on his shoulder which is three weeks away, but it will be a four month recovery process.
“Shane Wright and James Greenwood are likely to be out for the season and we don’t have anything in the piggy bank so we will crack on with what we’ve got.”
