Salford Red Devils: From the edge of the precipice to the edge of glory

Salford Red Devils are in their maiden Grand Final. 

Do not read any further for now. Just read that first line again. Yes, you read it correctly. Finally, after many years of being sung on the terraces, the maxim that ‘the Salford Reds are rising’ is accurate.

To get to the Grand Final, they inflicted defeat on Wigan in the play-off semi finals. The first time that Wigan have been defeated in a play off series (exluding a Grand Final) since 2012. And this was no fluke. It was a display of dominance and an expression of superiority.

(Picture Credit: @SuperLeague)

Salford dominated from minute one to minute 80. They were again led by their prop forwards, Gil Dudson and Lee Mossop. Both players once wore the Cherry and White but were moved on from the club. We cannot speak for Dudson and Mossop, but it is hard to imagine that this win would not provoke even a slight amount of personal satisfaction.

It was their way of saying, you were wrong. Add Logan Tomkins and Greg Burke to that list too. And that is only the players Wigan thought were not good enough for them. If you look through the Salford team from yesterday, most of them did not go there for career progression. They are at Salford because other clubs once judged that they had better options in their squad.

In any walk of life, there is a delight in being told that you cannot do something and then demonstrating that you can and will. Last night, with one dominant 80-minute performance, the doubters have been silenced and the believers shout the loudest.

Some pundits were brave enough to stick their head above the parapet and declare that they thought that Salford would win this game (we’ll ignore that we said the other week that a St Helens vs Wigan final was the most likely outcome)!

Although even those who believed Salford would win surely did not think they would do so in such crushing style, with the game over as a contest by the hour mark. The Wigan fans were left aghast, heads in their hands, not believing what their eyes were telling them.

The scenes were similar in the Salford end, the disbelief was still there. But heads were not in hands, they were raised above heads in celebration.

It is right to purr over Salford’s performance last night. It was one of the finest in their modern history. It may not get as much focus, but their defence should receive praise. Last week, Castleford could not break their resistance at all. This week, it took Wigan over 70 minutes. Their only try coming from a chip and chase with the game long over as a contest.

More impressively, neither Castleford nor Wigan launched a sustained assault on the Salford line over the last 160 minutes of action. If Salford are to do the impossible next weekend and beat St Helens, it will be based on the same defensive resolve.

One example of that resolve was late in the game. Wigan made a half break and the ball was kicked to the left corner of the field. Who was there to knock the ball dead for a drop out? Ken Sio. The right winger. He had covered a full 60-yard width of the field to prevent a try when it would have been little more than consolation.

That is the ‘pride’ that Lee Mossop spoke about in his post-match interview. Money cannot buy pride. It is something that only can be earned through hard work, belief and togetherness.

As the final hooter sounded, the tears started to flow on the pitch and in the stands. That’s what a lifetime of commitment can bring you to. When you follow a side around the country, or increasingly in rugby league, around the continent and the globe, enjoying those special moments is what it is all about.

Seeing what it meant to the Salford fans last night is a reminder of why we commit so much of our free time to our sport. It is a release from the stresses and worries of everyday life and can make you feel unquantifiable highs and lows.

Regardless of what happens at the Grand Final, those undiluted emotions will again be on display from both sets of fans and players. A season of work goes on the line for St Helens and Salford. It is the Grand Final that no-one would ever have predicted.

This blog has barely touched on Wigan. And that is deliberate. Wigan have had many words written about them over the years whilst clubs like Salford have waited in the shadows. Last night was there night. This season may yet be their season. For now, the Wigan inquest can wait, because the Salford Reds are rising.

This week

We’ll have plenty more content this week including:

• Million Pound Game Review (preview here);
• The best player in Super League vs who the best player in Super League thinks is the best player in Super League (or, a look at the battle between Jackson Hastings and Jonny Lomax);
• The power of being told ‘no’; and
• Grand Final: Essential reading.