Sky Sports pundit and former St Helens star Jon Wilkin has angered Salford Red Devils fans in recent weeks with some of his comments that have been made.
During Castleford Tigers’ live game against Warrington Wolves in July, Wilkin attracted the ire of Salford fans with his comments on the club’s chances of reaching the Super League play-offs.
“They’re flimsy,” Wilkin said live on air.
“They can attack their way out of trouble to a certain extent but there’s got to be a point where you have some steel and backbone and I just don’t see Salford having any backbone.
“If you look at the fixtures (they’ve got) Warrington, Hull and Castleford, how big are they because they’re the teams in the mix.
“It’s a big end to the season for Salford but I just don’t think they have the minerals to get it done.”
Salford have clearly taken being written off as extra motivation, with the Red Devils putting top four stalwarts Catalans Dragons and St Helens to the sword in emphatic fashion, with a 44-12 thrashing of reigning champions Saints underlining Salford’s play-off ambitions.
And, to go with that, the Red Devils players and staff have responded to Wilkin’s comments with some savage digs themselves.
Star winger Joe Burgess said to the media after his side’s win over Saints yesterday: “It’s really enjoyable at the minute. I’ve been repeating myself all year how good a set of lads it is. To do that against St Helens just shows one to 17 have a massive set of minerals,” Burgess said.
Now chief executive, Ian Blease, has had his own say on the matter.
Blease tweeted: “Wow! we had the minerals on show today didn’t we @SalfordDevils…along with a bit of steel and a heap of backbone to play some of the best rugby league i’ve seen for a long long time that with a brilliant atmosphere from our loyal and loud supporters you were amazing as.”
Wow! we had the minerals on show today didn’t we @SalfordDevils …along with a bit of steel and a heap of backbone to play some of the best rugby league i’ve seen for a long long time 👏 that with a brilliant atmosphere from our loyal and loud supporters you were amazing as
— Ian Blease (@Ianblease1) July 31, 2022
