Salford Red Devils boss Paul Rowley on new owners, player sales and cap uncertainty

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley has spoken with the media for the first time since the club was taken over by a consortium.

After an off-season of uncertainty on account of their financial troubles, Salford Red Devils seem to be on steady ground once again following the announcement that they have been taken over by a consortium headed up by Swiss banker Dario Berta.

The takeover has also seen former Commercial Officer Chris Irwin return as the club’s CEO, seemingly replacing Paul King, however, Paul Rowley has clarified that King remains with the club.

Rowley clarified a lot when addressing the media ahead of the Red Devils’ Round One game against St Helens with the Salford boss joking that the off-season has felt like a “long season already”.

The club shared the presser via their YouTube, where Rowley explained: “It feels like it’s been a long season already but we’ve trained well and had a good pre-season in each other’s company. We’re here at the start line and happy to get started.”

He was inevitably asked about the new ownership but he explained that right now, he doesn’t expect much contact with them as he argued that the football side of things should be left till last with more pressing off-field matters to address.

Rowley said: “There are more important issues than the team, the team is in good shape. There’s bigger fish to fry in that respect. My conversations with the ownership group have been low-key and healthy.”

Salford Red Devils still face cap uncertainty

One of the biggest questions regarding Salford Red Devils in the immediate is whether they will be able to name their full squad this weekend against St Helens.

The RFL imposed a cap restriction of £1.2 million on the club and that was evident when they played in the Challenge Cup this past weekend with stars such as Marc Sneyd, Kallum Watkins, Tim Lafai and Loghan Lewis among those not to play – potentially due to the cap.

Worryingly, Rowley (who spoke on Wednesday) did not know if he would have his full squad available for Saturday’s game, with the squad needing to be named at midday on Thursday.

He explained: “I’m still waiting for confirmation from the RFL on that one but we’ll prepare for a positive outcome. Our strongest team is getting ready to play at St Helens.”

On if the £1.2 million cap is not lifted, had answered pragmatically: “We’ll deal with that problem if it comes.”

He also confirmed that there were times when doubts over the new season crept in but insisted that the internal attitude of the team helped to alleviate those with players intent on staying.

Rowley answered: “A few times but I think the important bit is that when we’ve had the players in-house, I’ve always felt super confident in the group and their appetite to stay was always strong but the club’s ability to fulfil their obligations to the players was always the question.”

He also put any fears of player sales on hold, stating: “I’ve certainly not had any instructions to sell anybody. Anybody coming in or going out will be part of a strategy or selection process, as at any other club.”

Having placed fourth in 2024, the Red Devils are still a whopping 33/1 for the Grand Final and are backed not to even make the play-offs and whilst Rowley would not declare where Salford are aiming to finish, he made it clear they want to beat the bookies.

The Salford coach said: “We want to be batting at the top of the competition and compete at the business end of the season but we need to beat the bookies first who have put us down at the other end.”