Kurt Haggerty hopes the futures of Nene Macdonald and Tim Lafai will be resolved by the middle of the week as Salford Red Devils face losing two more key players.
The embattled Betfred Super League club were dealt another blow ahead of the 26-16 win over Bradford Bulls in the Betfred Challenge Cup on Friday night with the transfer of Marc Sneyd to Warrington Wolves.
Outside backs Macdonald and Lafai have both been linked with moves as well amid the Red Devils’ ongoing financial issues, and while assistant coach Haggerty was unsure whether they were leaving he expects their situations to be resolved soon.
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“I don’t know, I’m hoping to know midweek,” Haggerty said.
“We’ve absolutely no idea [what the next week will be like]. The lads have got some recovery then we’ll come in Monday and see what we fix on Monday.”
Speculation around Macdonald’s future grew after he was withdrawn from the sustainability cap-restricted 17-player squad to face Bradford along with Sneyd following the half’s move to Warrington, with the RFL granting permission for Jayden Nikorima and Ethan Ryan to play instead.
But while Sneyd’s transfer to Warrington was classed as exceptional circumstances for changing the named squad by the governing body, Macdonald’s was not which saw Salford lose an interchange for the Cup tie against Bradford.
Matters were made worse by Joe Bullock and Chris Hankinson both picking up injuries which left the Red Devils down to just two players to rotate off the bench, and Haggerty offered some insight into how team selection is working while operating under a £1.2million cap.
“Myself, Paul and Krisnan pick a team, we put it on paper and we ask if they can play,” Haggerty said.
“We’ll be told ‘we think so’ then the next minute we’ll be told we can’t play that team, and then things change around and it constantly keeps changing.
“The lads have been amazing, whatever we’ve thrown at them they’ve been brilliant and I’m so proud of the players. I can’t commend them enough.”
Although through to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals, Salford are still searching for a win in Super League and will aim to get one at the fifth attempt of asking when they host fellow strugglers Huddersfield Giants in Thursday’s Round 5 opener.
The only thing certain for the Red Devils at the moment is more uncertainty though, but Haggerty and the players could at least take some comfort from getting a victory over their Betfred Championship opponents.
“It’s not just been week on week, this had been going on since November, but it’s nice to win,” Haggerty said.
