BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Salford head coach Paul Rowley has praised the support his club has received from some quarters in the past few months but also slammed those who have tried to “take advantage of a vulnerable situation” at the Red Devils.
Salford have endured a period of financial instability for several months and are in the process of undergoing a takeover to solve its money issues. In January the Rugby Football League (RFL) ordered the Red Devils to sell players after being issued a sustainability cap of £1.2 million.
Rowley has had the difficult task of keeping his squad together and focused as round one approaches amid wild speculation.
“There’s investment opportunities that have been taken up at Salford and there’s a party that will hopefully be taking over, but what we’ve tried to do as a playing group is stick to facts,” he told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“We’ve been brilliant really. If I ever needed endorsement from the players that have got buy-in and what sort of group they are, I can’t speak highly enough of the players. The outside noise has been unbelievable, and some of its been really disruptive.
“To stick together like they have, I’ve got a consistent group of players. Win or lose like on the field, off the field we’re a consistent group of players and it’s been a privilege to be involved with that group.”
Asked how difficult the period has been to navigate, Rowley said: “I would never try and take the players down a path where it wasn’t in their best interests. So they trust me and we have an honest group.
“Its been difficult because you want to be master of your own destiny and you want to choose your own path, and for large times there it looked like that was not going to be the case. So that’s tough in any walk of life.
“But it’s been eye-opening as well for a sport that prides itself on coming together there’s a lot of people there potentially, the way it was getting spoken about was quite flippant at times when ultimately it’s people’s jobs, careers, livelihoods.
“I thought whilst we’ve experienced huge support in some quarters, there’s been certain quarters that have attempted to take advantage of a vulnerable situation for their own gain, from within the sport, which goes against what we pride ourselves on as a sport.
“Because we’re not big enough to be that way. I’m just proud of our players.”
Salford open the Super League season away at St Helens on February 15.
“We’re always super-confident, nothing changes there,” he said.
“It’s deja vu every year. Everyone says where do you think you’ll finish and I always start by saying what are the bookies saying? They’re never far wrong.
“We’ll see if we can beat the bookie. Up to now, we keep beating the bookie, so we’ll have a crack again.”
