Salford Red Devils have named their Challenge Cup squad to face Midlands Hurricanes with the club still under salary cap restraints, despite their takeover.
The Red Devils, who have confirmed that they have been officially taken over, will travel to face Midlands Hurricanes on Sunday but Salford still can only register players up to the RFL’s enforced £1.2 million cap.
It was confirmed in January that the Red Devils must cut costs by £800,000 with the RFL implementing a temporary salary cap of £1.2 million meaning Salford can only name players up to that value.
As such, stars such as Tim Lafai and Marc Sneyd have not been named in their Challenge Cup squad but the club did state in their takeover announcement that the restriction will be lifted in time for the Round One Super League clash against St Helens.
In that takeover statement, they revealed: “Due to timings, the club can confirm that there will be a selection restriction for this weekend’s Challenge Cup Third Round fixture against the Midlands Hurricanes, but this will be lifted ahead of the first fixture of the 2025 Betfred Super League Season.”
Salford Red Devils salary cap restraints remain as Challenge Cup squad named
🏆 Our @TheChallengeCup R3 squad is locked-in! pic.twitter.com/VwRgVOvdlO
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) February 7, 2025
Despite that restriction, there are still some star players named to the squad with the most notable being Nene Macdonald who was subject to plenty of speculation that he would depart this off-season.
Macdonald had a brilliant debut campaign with the Red Devils as the Salford man earned Dream Team honours before then shining for Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Championships.
He will form a backline that will also feature club captain Ryan Brierley and Deon Cross, another player linked with an exit from the club.
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As mentioned, Marc Sneyd will not be in action but Salford have named 2024 mid-season signing Jayden Nikorima and a string of other 2025 recruits including Esan Marsters, Justine Sangare, Joe Bullock and recent loanee Tiaki Chan.
The Red Devils have only managed to name a 20-man squad but it certainly looks strong enough to do the business against League One Midlands.
Salford Red Devils 20-Man Squad to face Midlands Hurricanes
1 – Ryan Brierley
3 – Nene Macdonald
5 – Deon Cross
6 – Jayden Nikorima
8 – Brad Singleton
13 – Joe Shorrocks
14 – Chris Atkin
15 – Shane Wright
17 – Esan Marsters
18 – Jack Ormondroyd
19 – Justin Sangare
20 – Joe Bullock
22 – Matty Foster
23 – Chris Hankinson
25 – Ben Hellewwell
27 – Kai Morgan
28 – Nathan Connell
30 – Tiaki Chan
