Illness continues to plague Salford Red Devils squad ahead of must-win final day clash with Catalans Dragons
Salford Red Devils - Alamy
Salford Red Devils’ hopes of securing a Super League play-off spot appear to have taken another blow ahead of Friday night’s final round, with illness continuing to affect the squad.
Paul Rowley’s side lost 12-0 at Hull KR in the final game of Round 26 on Saturday night, conceding a try in each half, with the win seeing the hosts secure their own top six spot. The Robins will face Leigh Leopards in the ‘Elimination’ play-off, with the venue for that match still to be decided.
With the top five now all locked in, there’s just one place remaining in the six, and after their defeat to Catalans Dragons, Leeds Rhinos can officially no longer make it in.
Accordingly, it’ll be either Warrington Wolves or Salford who get the final place, with the Red Devils trying to secure a top six finish for the second year running after last year’s journey to the semi-finals.
Warrington have a much-superior points difference though, so Rowley’s side need to beat Catalans, and hope the Wire are beaten by Huddersfield Giants, realistically. Before that defeat at Craven Park, the boss said his squad were in ‘lockdown’ and unable to train properly due to a sickness bug sweeping the camp.
Now, they’ve cancelled their end of season awards evening due to the same issue, with all signs pointing towards a difficult week in Greater Manchester.
Illness plaguing Salford Red Devils squad
Scheduled to take place this evening (September 18), the Red Devils last night released a statement on their website confirming the sudden cancellation of the event.
It reads: “Due to illness within the playing squad and to prevent it spreading further to our would-be attendees, we have made the difficult decision to cancel tomorrow’s End of Season Awards Evening event.
“Whilst we do not expect to announce a rearranged event at a later date, we will still be honouring the efforts of our winners appropriately. Further details will be communicated in due course across our platforms.
“Refunds will be issued to all ticket purchasers imminently.”