Sa’u glad that Sheens is steering Salford onward
Salford centre Junior Sa’u is excited about the new season and believes the Red Devils are heading in the right direction, with Tim Sheens at the helm as director of rugby.
Sa’u was one of Marwan Koukash’s key player buys back in 2013, when the entrepreneur took over the club, along with Rangi Chase, Tony Puletua, Gareth Hock and Tim Smith.
The Kiwi outside back, who arrived from the Melbourne Storm, is the last of that quintet left at the club.
Nevertheless, Sa’u is looking forward to the 2016 season, and is hopeful that the club can be successful in the new campaign.
“I’ve signed a three-year deal there and we’re heading in the right direction,” he said.
“Tim Sheens – he’s done pretty well. You can see we’re heading in the right direction.
“He’s got a lot of experience under his belt, he’s the Australia coach so he knows his stuff, it’s good for us.
“The boys get to learn something new everyday from him.
“Having Tim Sheens with us for the next few years is a positive thing for Salford.
“We’ve got a good bunch of blokes and new staff as well.
“Obviously we’ve got a young side for next year but I’m looking forward to it.
Sa’u has played 47 games for Salford since arriving from the NRL.
In 2015 he scored six tries and recorded six try assists, 38 tackle busts and five clean breaks from 22 appearances.
The 28-year old, nicknamed ‘Hot Sauce’, wants to improve next year.
“My form was a bit up and down injury-wise and a bit of inconsistency,” Sa’u admitted.
“But I’m looking forward to getting back to training and to better myself. Just to step up what I did this season.
“I’ll be working on my weaknesses, getting better and hopefully in 2016 we’ll be heading in a positive way.”
The Red Devils finished 11th in the Super League regular season, winning eight of 23 games, and then came third in the Middle 8s.
The club have made huge changes in their roster with 17 players leaving and nine new arrivals so far.
According to Sa’u, the Red Devils are yet to discuss the the team’s goal for next season.
“We haven’t really spoken about that, but we’ve just got to work hard in pre-season and trying to get the combos together,” he said.
“Once we nail that down and we get used to playing alongside each other, we’ll reach those kind of goals.
“But we haven’t really discussed where we want to end.
“First and foremost we’ve just got to put those hard yards in pre-season.”