Salford Red Devils will be forced to play a weakened team when they take on St Helens this weekend, the club have confirmed. Although a takeover has been announced, it is still pending final approval by the RFL and hasn’t officially been ratified.
As such, the club have confirmed they are still under the restrictions of a £1.2m sustainability cap, which limits them when it comes to squad selection. It means that they will be without some of their best and most high profile players this weekend when they take on St Helens in their Super League opener.
The Red Devils have confirmed that they will be fielding a team that will feature a raft of second string players to take on the Saints and until the takeover has officially been given the green light by the governing body, the sustainability cap will remain in place.
Salford were due to release their squad for the fixture at 12pm on Thursday afternoon and they have now released a statement on their official channels.
It reads: “Salford Red Devils can confirm that the club will still be under the restrictions of the sustainability cap for this weekend’s opening Betfred Super League fixture against St Helens on Saturday 15 February. As such, the club will be fielding a team featuring predominantly reserve squad players this weekend.
“Following the change of ownership, all documents have been submitted to the RFL for final approval, which is still ongoing.
“Although the club is disappointed to still be under the restriction, there is an understanding that the process requires the appropriate time to be completed and we are complying with each request as it is provided. It is hoped this will be completed in time for the first home fixture of the season against Leeds Rhinos on Saturday 22 February.”
Salford Red Devils’ squad to face St Helens: Bardyel Wells, Ben Hellewell, Charlie McCurrie, Ethan Fitzgerald, Finley Yates, Harrison Hope, Jack Gatcliffe, Jimmy Shields, Joe Bullock, John Hutchings, Josh Wagstaffe, Kai Morgan, Logan Lagar, Lucas Coan, Nathan Connell, Sean Murray, Tiaki Chan.
