St Helens host Salford Red Devils on Saturday evening and the squads for both clubs have now been confirmed.
The two sides faced off in pre-season with Salford taking the win that day in Morgan Knowles’ testimonial, however, St Helens did not play their full-strength side with most internationals missing out.
It will be Salford playing without their best and most high profile players this weekend, though, with the club unable to name their full squad due to a £1.2 million cap on account of their financial woes.
Those financial woes appear to have been solved with a consortium headed by Swiss banker Dario Berta taking the club over, however, that cap cannot be lifted until everything is ticked off by the RFL.
As such, the Red Devils couldn’t name all their stars against Midlands Hurricanes in the Challenge Cup on Sunday and while Salford head coach Paul Rowley told the media on Wednesday that he was planning for a best case scenario, his side will be limited once more this week.
Both theirs and St Helens’ 21-man squads have now been named.
St Helens squad news
🔻 𝑺𝑸𝑼𝑨𝑫 𝑵𝑬𝑾𝑺
Paul Wellens has named his 21-man Saints squad for this Saturday’s @SuperLeague Opener against @SalfordDevils!
Full story 😇 https://t.co/6IlsZyXMmI #COYS | St Helens Flooring
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) February 13, 2025
Paul Wellens has made nine changes to the squad that was named ahead of their Challenge Cup clash against West Hull with a number of the young players exiting in place of senior stars.
Kyle Feldt will debut whilst fellow signings Tristan Sailor and Lewis Murphy are also in line to play. Among the young stars to retain their place are Noah Stephens and Harry Robertson, both of whom have recently penned new four-year deals.
Star centre Konrad Hurrell is not named in the squad, however, he is the only player in the team’s first 21 squad numbers not to be named with young gun Harry Robertson featuring as number 26.
On Wednesday, Wellens had told SaintsTV that everyone in the first-team squad barring Will Roberts and Ciaran Nolan was available for selection suggesting Hurrell could be a selection call.
Salford Red Devils squad news
Our @SuperLeague R1 squad 👇 pic.twitter.com/UfiSwkvS2u
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) February 13, 2025
Salford have been forced to name a weakened side due to the sustainability cap that is still in place. The club are in the midst of a takeover but until the new investment has been given the green light by the RFL, they cannot name their full team.
As such, they have named a squad made up largely of second string and reserve players for the club. The Red Devils have released a statement on the matter.
Saturday’s match will be televised on BBC Two with details available here.
