Salford Red Devils suffer huge double injury blow and loanee recalled by parent club

Salford Red Devils pair Jayden Nikorima and Ethan Ryan have both been ruled out for significant chunks of the season, Paul Rowley has confirmed.

Both players picked up knee injuries in Salford’s heavy loss to Castleford Tigers on Sunday afternoon and while they will see specialists this week, Rowley already knows that both men are set to miss the next two months.

The news comes as a huge blow for Salford, who are already extremely short of senior options and with Nikorima being one of the club’s chief attacking threats, the Red Devils will be forced to dig deep into their reserves once again.

Ryan played at full-back on Sunday and his absence leaves a hole at number one which could prompt a reshuffle, with Nene Macdonald, Chris Hankinson and Ryan Brierley all able to play at full-back.

Paul Rowley confirms latest Salford Red Devils setback

“They’re gone long-term, both of them,” Rowley said when asked about Ryan and Nikorima. “They’ll be a couple of months each.

“Both got knee injuries, tendon injuries within there and there’s loads of different things going on. They’re back in with the specialist today to get a bit more clarity on that. We’re clear enough to know it’s not a one or two week thing, it’s a couple of months each.

“They’re both runners and make things happen and with the opportunities we created against Castleford earlier in the game, it’s people like Ethan and Jayden that ice those moments and beat a man. They’re a huge loss and they’d have been a huge loss for us five months ago because they’re both people who start in our team for obvious reasons.”

He added: “The lads are pretty resilient as a group and they keep going strong. We want to win games and we’re clearly lacking on troops, we’re lacking on troops but we keep going and we won’t give in.”

Rowley does expect to welcome Joe Bullock back into the fold this week after overcoming a leg injury, but the head coach has revealed George Hill has now returned to his parent club.

“George Hill has been taken back by Castleford,” Rowley added. “It’s not good for us but it’s good for him. I’m glad he gets that opportunity back at Castleford and I hope he makes the most of it and goes on and performs well for them.”