SALFORD SEASON REVIEW: Another final, another near miss

In 2019, Salford Red Devils finished third in the Super League table. The 2020 table will record that Salford finished ninth from 12 with just five wins to their name. As always seems to be the case with Salford, that does not tell the whole story.

Salford were deducted three wins for a failure to meet a financial obligation, arising from the club's 2013 financial difficulties. It was genius, in some ways. The club suffered a three win penalty, in a season where they could not make the play offs nor get relegated. The alternative was to pay the money owed from 2013 in a season where income streams had ran dry. It was the correct commercial decision to make.

After a 2019 beyond any Salford fan's wildest dreams, and the departures of several key stars, 2020 was always going to be tougher. And so it proved. Prior to lockdown they were defeated by St Helens, Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Catalans. One game that Salford did win, against Toronto, was expunged from the records.

A lopsided fixture list saw five of Salford's first seven matches at home, which made you fear for the Red Devils. Were they being drawn to a relegation battle? It turned out that both points were moot. When the season returned after lockdown, home advantage was no longer a thing and relegation had been suspended for the season. In that sense, the pressure had gone.

But when reflecting on Salford's pre-lockdown performance, it is impossible to ignore their home victory over Wigan. Salford were 12 points down and staring down the barrel of another loss. The club's spirit of 2019 was summoned and three second half tries, including a late Kevin Brown winner gave Salford a memorable win.

With Covid-19 starting to cause greater societal concern, hand sanitiser was placed around the stadium and fans urged not to shake hands with players as they greeted the fans at the end of the game. It could have been worse though, that same weekend, Castleford Tigers were pleading with their fans not to steal toilet roll as the stiff-upper lipped British public ran amok down toilet roll and pasta supermarket aisles across the country. There was a sense that this may be the last game that fans would witness for a while. 

When the season resumed in August, Salford were inconsistent. An impressive 50 point drubbing of Hull FC was offset by a similarly hefty loss to Leeds. Their league season continued in a similar vein, with some impressive wins and frustrating losses.

The abiding memory of Salford's season was their Challenge Cup campaign. With all lower-league clubs withdrawing from the competition, the Red Devils (like most Super League clubs) entered at the quarter final stage. 

After drawing Catalans Dragons, the perception was that Salford would be exiting at the quarter final stage too. Salford started the game terribly, with Catalans appearing in control. Salford kept themselves in contention and trailed by just two at half time. Despite never leading, the second half was nip and tuck and the two sides could not be separated. Golden point beckoned. But Salford pulled a trick shot, dummying a drop goal and catching Catalans cold to score the winning try. Not a bad time to hit the front for the first time!

If Salford were underdogs against Catalans, they were seen as no-hopers against Warrington in the semi final. The game followed a similar pattern. Warrington seemed to have the edge, but tenacious Salford would not go away. Warrington started to crank up the heat in the last quarter, but could not break Salford for the clincher.

With four point separating the sides, Salford needed to take any chance they had. Quick thinking from Joey Lussick saw him bury over the tryline with minutes to go. Warrington had no time to fight back. Salford were at Wembley for the first time since the 1960's. The paupers had beat the princes. 

Fans have been missed throughout the rugby league season but this was one of the most stark examples. Salford's historic moment was greeted by the sound of rain thumping against crash barriers in a wet terrace rather than a seismic roar and a crowd bounce for the ages. And then again at Wembley. Most Salford fans will never have seen their side at Wembley. It was the cruellest of blows that they were denied this.

Instead, the match was watched on TV. It's repetitive, but the game against Leeds followed the same pattern. Salford's opponents had the majority of the pressure, but Salford hung on in there and struck back. Salford had led for a combined total of four minutes in their last two cup matches, leaving their opponents no time to respond. When James Greenwood crossed with 15 minutes to go, Leeds still had a chance. Maybe too long. Certainly too long when Ash Handley tied the game again.

With time ticking by, you sensed Leeds had the edge. They had the ice-cool drop goal specialist Luke Gale ready to open fire at the goalposts if given a chance. By contrast, Salford did not have one player who could be described as a specialist. Gale had kicked more drop goals in his career than the Salford 17 put together.

The inevitable happened. Gale kicked Leeds ahead. Salford, just as in their previous cup matches, had one last chance. This time they could not take it. Clearly lacking confidence in their ability to level the scores with a drop goal, they threw a hail mary and went for the winning try with a minute left. And they found the space, but not the final pass. The elusive wait for a trophy goes on.

Salford are a club that evolves every 12 months. Their richer rivals cherry pick the better players and the Reds rebuild. It's no different this year, with Niall Evalds departing for Castleford. Kris Welham, Mark Flanagan, Luke Yates and Gil Dudson have moved on too.

When Salford have undergone their near annual reshuffle of late, the captain of the ship, head coach Ian Watson has been a constant. For the 2021 rebuild, Watson has left. His head turned by Huddersfield, with a likely wage increase and a promise of investment to build his own squad on more than a shoestring.

Salford have turned to Richard Marshall as a replacement. A promising coach who has served his apprenticeship as a head coach with Halifax and an assistant coach with Warrington and St Helens. And Salford's 2021 recruitment looks good. Morgan Escare, Joe Burgess, Jack Wells, Harvey Livett, Danny Addy, Sam Luckey and Elijah Taylor will all join. It's a big challenge and the big question is whether Marshall can marshall his squad into a coherent unit.

When the Super League table predictions roll around next year, Salford will be near the bottom of most of them. If we have learned anything from the recent past, it would be to underestimate Salford at your peril.