Paul Rowley shuts down strike talk as Salford coach addresses ‘utter bull’

Paul Rowley has shut down any suggestion of some of his Salford Red Devils players not featuring against Leeds Rhinos on Friday: calling speculation ‘utter bull’.

Reports had emerged in recent days that the Red Devils’ senior players were considering not turning out at AMT Headingley this weekend as uncertainty over the club’s financial position continued.

That has coincided with the RFL meeting Salford’s players on Wednesday to discuss the matter further – but Rowley began his pre-match press briefing by stating that none of his players have come to him and said they will not play.

He said: “I read an article saying I’d been made aware of certain players not playing. That’s not true. Nobody has approached me. I’ve not had any dialogue over that. That’s utter bull.”

What is true, and Rowley confirmed as much on Wednesday, was a report from PA that the RFL will head to Salford on Wednesday for talks with the players about the ongoing situation and the financial crisis engulfing the club.

Rowley said: “They’ve come in at the request of the players. It’s at the request of players for some good chat and they’re kindly doing that. That’s not the gravitas that it was made out to be.”

Rowley has been able to name his available senior players this week to face Leeds with talk of a strike calmed down for now.

However, they will be without three players who left the field last week against Castleford. Loghan Lewis suffered a HIA, while there are fears both Jayden Nikorima and Esan Marsters will be missing long-term.

Nikorima has fractured his arm, while Marsters is awaiting an appointment with a specialist to determine the severity of a shoulder issue.

Rowley conceded: “The other two boys are definitely going to be long-term. Jayden has a fractured arm and Esan has damage to his shoulder so we’re awaiting the appointment of the specialist. But that’s long-term; we’re not going to see Esan for a while.”