Reds out to stop Myler and co
Salford captain Malcolm Alker is warning his team-mates that the key to success in Friday’s derby at Warrington is stopping the players who make Richie Myler tick.
The match at Halliwell Jones Stadium is the first meeting between the two clubs since Myler transferred to Warrington from Salford last season in a move that made the England half-back the world’s most expensive teenager.
Myler has been in sensational form this year to help his new club climb to second place in the Engage Super League table but his former skipper insists Salford will not make the mistake of focussing all their attentions on the 19-year-old.
“We all know that Richie is a fantastic finisher and that’s why we have to make sure we close down the people who create opportunities for him’” said Alker.
“This isn’t going to be Richie Myler versus Salford City Reds, it’s us against a team which has been managing to bring out the best in their scrum-half.
“We can exert a lot of control over how well Richie plays by playing well ourselves. It’s important we get off to a good start, take confidence from that and stay with it for the whole match.”
Salford gave themselves a timely confidence boost with an impressive 27-20 victory over Hull FC last Saturday – their first home win of the season – and Alker feels the Reds are hitting form at the right time.
“We have been working hard to get the results all season but just not getting them,” he said. “Offensively we haven’t been very good but defensively there’s not been a lot wrong. On Saturday it all came together and we got the win we deserved.
“The challenge now is to build on that. We know it’s going to be tougher on Friday in front of a packed Halliwell Jones Stadium but we won’t be overawed.
“We just have to make sure we do our own little jobs within the team structure and apply ourselves for the full 80 minutes.
“We owe that to ourselves and to the fans, who haven’t had a lot to shout about this year. We want to put a smile on their faces and it would be great to see as many of them as possible getting behind us at Warrington.”