Salford Red Devils coach on lacking physicality and the real start to their season

Salford Red Devils coach Paul Rowley was just happy to get started with their 2025 Super League campaign, despite losing 32-6 to Leeds Rhinos.

Salford got off to the races quickly, scoring in the second minute, but failed to score a point after that.

Head coach Rowley believed that Leeds won the contest all over the field, despite injuries to key men.

Rowley said: “We started physical, Leeds have obviously had a focus on being physical really.

“I think if you look at the opening games of the year, there’s been a lot of midfield tussles and I think completion and tough defence has been kind of the blueprint for the competition.

“Over the 80 minutes, Leeds were the more physical side and just fundamentally, they ran harder and tackled harder for longer periods of time.

“Like I said, we started brightly but I don’t think we had the energy or the sustainability to keep going on it.”

He admitted that his team weren’t as prepared as he would’ve liked but still praised their efforts.

He added: “A couple of people have said ‘You must be buzzing this week that they’re ready to play’ but actually, we were really tired.

“Our team run was flat, it’s taken a lot out of the boys and today’s been the introduction. This is the start of our season so we’ll be stiff for a few days now.

“It’s not done us any favours with a shot turnaround for Hull KR on Thursday night but we’ve got to get started.”

He continued by saying Leeds were the much better side on the day and was surprised by just how tough the match was.

He said: “We’ve got no complaints with today, Leeds were by far the better side.

“They won the physical battle and completed very high.

“It’s as simple as that for the start of the season in particular, that’s been winning games so congratulations to them.

“For our boys, we’re just glad to be getting up and running and talking to you guys and just playing rugby.”

The Salford Red Devils coach and his side have a turnaround, facing Hull KR next Thursday night.

Rowley finished: “You wait for it for so long and then when it comes, it’s like ‘what’s next?’.

“Things move so quickly in this game and in this trade that you don’t really get a chance to think, like coaching, I  guess.

“We’ve just finished today, we’ll have to pick the bones out of that.

“It’s full-on, you don’t get a chance to breathe much but I guess that’s a good thing.”