The good, the bad & the ugly: Salford rising, Catalans embarrassed, farcical postponement

Drew Darbyshire

Photo courtesy of Richard Long

We never have a quiet week in rugby league, do we?

The good

Salford’s team song: “The Salford Reds are rising, I say the Reds are on their way.”

And it’s hard not to praise the Red Devils at the moment. With the minimal budget they’ve got, Ian Watson is doing an incredible job with his hometown club.

The Red Devils spanked Catalans Dragons 46-0 at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in Perpignan on Saturday. It wasn’t the result that shocked the rugby league world, but the scoreline and margin.

The Red Devils are a really good team to watch then they are going well. Jake Bibby played his first game of the season and put in a wow of a performance. He scored two tries and was offloading left, right and centre! Watson continues to keep the Salford spirit well and truly alive.

The bad

Saturday’s ugly defeat to Salford was one of the worst performances that Catalans have displayed in some time. They were outplayed by the Red Devils but were woeful with the ball in hand.

On paper, the Dragons have one of the best teams in the competition and you would certainly expect them to be competing for silverware. They have strength everywhere on the park, but they have endured a shaky start to the season.

Steve McNamara’s side have lost three from their opening five games in Super League this season. However, one of their wins came against Warrington Wolves, who are one of the favourites to achieve success this year.

There is no doubt the Dragons have an immensely talented squad, but they need to make their home a fortress like it once was. They shouldn’t be losing 46-0 to any team at home.

The ugly

The Championship match between Rochdale Hornets and York City Knights on Sunday was postponed in farcical circumstances.

With a little more than half an hour to go until kick-off, the Hornets issued a statement to say the kick-off may be delayed at the Crown Oil Arena due to high winds.

The game didn’t go ahead at all as the winds meant the covers protecting the pitch couldn’t be removed safety, nor could the rugby posts be put up.

This could only happen in rugby league. The Knights having already arrived at the ground along with over 300 of their supporters.

It’s unclear who is at fault yet as to why the game didn’t go ahead. York are fully expecting the two points from the game though.

Stuff like this makes the sport look amateurish at times though. It’s important to not let it happen again.

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