Salford Red Devils boss Paul Rowley has said he was “heartbroken” after being forced to call off last week’s fixture with Wakefield Trinity, after the club decided to withdraw due to player welfare concerns.
Wakefield were informed at the last minute of the cancellation, in which resulted in Trinity earning a 48-0 victory and two Super League points.
Speaking after the Red Devils spirited performance in defeat to Leigh Leopards, Rowley mentioned how he didn’t like to make the decision, but admitted it was one they needed to do.
“I was heartbroken last week,” said the Salford boss. “To Wakefield, Matt Ellis, Daryl Powell, we don’t want to do that to good people in the game and a good club like Wakefield. So we’re really disappointed and saddened by our, I guess, unavailability, I don’t know the best way to describe it, but not turning up and getting that game on.”
Rowley had nine loanees in his matchday 17 against the Leopards, with some of them meeting with the squad for the first time today. He praised their passion and effort, and applauded their dedication to come and help the club out.
He said: “Particularly the first half, I thought we was great. I thought all the new additions had some really good game sense about them, some of their decision-making, how they defended. Few dropouts to Neil on the wing, who I thought was fantastic. Jack Darbyshire was fantastic, [Louix] Gorman, I thought they were all great and it was really pleasing to see Rowan Milnes play. Obviously, there’s no pressure on him here and I thought he showed some nice touches.”
He continued: “If we can help them on their journeys and develop them, by giving them some confidence and game time then it’s been a pleasure for us… We don’t expect them players to start kissing the badge. They’re all in different individual journeys and we facilitate them. But, what we ask of them is to commit to each other and what I always say is ‘somebody is judging them somewhere’ and if that someone is just themselves, the man in the mirror, then hold yourself to high standards.”
Salford Red Devils boss thanks fans in defeat to Leigh Leopards
Salford fans were as passionate as ever, as a 300 strong contingent made their way over to Leigh Sports Village. After the kickoff, you could hear them singing about their displeasure of the owners, as “get out of our club” rang around the stadium.
Rowley spoke on how dedicated the fans are to the club, saying that whatever happens next the Salford club will live on forever due to their committed support.
“The club is Salford. It’s the fans, the heartbeat of any club is the fans and these lot, from generation to generation have been coming, mums, dads, grandmas, grandads. There’s too much history, too much pride in the city of Salford to let it go.
“I’ve heard them shout it today and before, Salford will never die, no matter what it looks like. It will come back, it will bounce back, there’s resilient people and there’s too much pride in this city to let it die.”
