Salford Red Devils coach delivers Nene Macdonald latest as squad update issued ahead of St Helens clash

Salford Red Devils boss Paul Rowley has confirmed that Nene Macdonald won’t feature against St Helens this weekend as question marks continue to linger over his future.

Papua New Guinea international Macdonald missed Salford’s 46-6 defeat at home against Wigan Warriors a fortnight ago, prior to the break in the Super League fixture schedule for the Challenge Cup final.

Following that defeat, Rowley confirmed that the centre’s absence was due to illness having been struck down in the week building up to the clash.

But ahead of the visit of Saints, Macdonald remains unavailable: and that will only add fuel to the fire of the many rumours circulating about his future.

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Salford Red Devils coach delivers Nene Macdonald latest as squad update issued ahead of St Helens clash

The 31-year-old spent a large chunk of time unavailable for Salford earlier this year through no fault of his own, due to the Sustainability Cap the club remains under today.

During that period, he played two games out on loan at Championship side Oldham, and with plenty of his team-mates departing Salford permanently, many thought that he would follow suit.

But having returned for the two games prior to Wigan, he’s now set to miss a second successive game, as confirmed by Rowley in Wednesday afternoon’s pre-match press conference.

The Red Devils head coach detailed: “I don’t think Nene will be back, but we’ve possibly got Chris Hill, Joe Mellor and Shane Wright (returning).

“We won’t be bringing any loan players in this week. I think they (every team) are all battered and bruised at the minute, so there’s not much room there for movement anywhere, really. We’re alright, though.

“We’re consistent in what we do preparation wise, and historically, we’ve always done well against St Helens other than the anomaly at the beginning of the year.

“Our preparation will stay the same, and that’s how it should be, professional.

“We’ve done our homework, we’ll practice what we see as opportunities against St Helens, but the task is always going out and executing. That’s the true test.”

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