Every player to have left Salford during crisis as INCREDIBLE team of departed talent clear

Salford Red Devils’ off-field issues are continuing to linger – and it is now having a deeper impact on Paul Rowley’s first-team squad.

Having lost key players throughout the course of 2025, two more officially left in a matter of hours on Monday with Chris Hill joining Bradford and Chris Hankinson heading to Leeds Rhinos.

More may follow, too. Love Rugby League revealed on Monday that Ethan Ryan’s name has been circulated to clubs, with others now believed to be strongly considering their futures too.

In short, Salford are running out of players, time and patience in the eyes of everyone including their supporters and their own playing squad.

And the team of talent that has left the club since February is incredible: with 11 players having gone so far if you include two that have departed on loan deals. It’s close to being a stunning line-up in its own right: one that would compete at a good level in Super League.

Many of the bigger names were among the first to leave. Nene Macdonald’s future was uncertain for a number of weeks, with a short-term loan deal at Oldham taking place before he ultimately left to go home on unpaid leave.

Fellow star centre Tim Lafai’s contract was ended so he could go home too, with fellow outside back Deon Cross going to St Helens, Marc Sneyd transferring to Warrington Wolves for a fee and Castleford picking up both Brad Singleton and Chris Atkin.

The big blow was captain and standout player Kallum Watkins, whose mid-season move to Leeds was a difficult pill for many Red Devils fans to swallow. That feeling will have been enhanced further by Watkins’ form since going back to the Rhinos.

The departures have continued in bursts over the summer too – with Sam Stone signing for Warrington after informing the Red Devils he was unavailable to feature in a game against St Helens.

Joe Bullock has been at Barrow for a prolonged period now too, with the forward seemingly staying up in Cumbria for the foreseeable.

And the departures tipped over into double figures on Monday with Hill and Hankinson heading out of the door, too.

It means you could almost field a complete 13 of Macdonald, Cross, Lafai, Hankinson, Atkin, Sneyd, Singleton, Hill, Stone, Watkins, Bullock.

It’s a travesty that Salford’s players, staff and supporters have been treated like this. The game has to get involved sooner, rather than later. But there will likely be more departures before any sort of intervention.

Salford Red Devils departures since start of season

Nene Macdonald (returned home), Tim Lafai (returned home), Deon Cross (St Helens), Marc Sneyd (Warrington Wolves), Brad Singleton (Castleford Tigers), Sam Stone (Warrington Wolves – loan), Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos), Chris Atkin (Castleford Tigers), Joe Bullock (Barrow Raiders – loan), Chris Hankinson (Leeds Rhinos).

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