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Salford Red Devils’ head coach Richard Marshall is relishing the ten-day timescale in which his side will come up against three of the best teams in Super League historically.
Starting on Monday, the Red Devils travel away to face St Helens. They then return home to the AJ Bell Stadium to take on both Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves.
Between those three opponents, there are 27 Grand Final appearances (12 victories) and while Marshall appreciates the tough nature of the fixture list, he’s looking forward to the matches, even more so as fans are able to return for the first time in over 12 months.
“The schedule is tough but that’s the game and it’s why we play it. It’ll be a different dynamic with the stadiums having some fans milling around and there will be that interaction again that we get as well as the banter. It’s a big operation and it seems a long time since we were playing with fans”.
“I’ve not met any of our players’ wives, girlfriends or families yet so I’m looking forward to all of that. It’s important here at Salford, we’re a really good family club”.
“Playing Saints, Wigan and Warrington is even better for us with the fans in. They’re tough teams but at the same time we’ve got to play these games and these teams at some point in the season.”
While Salford will be able to embrace a matchday atmosphere again, their focus must be on the pitch. They have only managed to pick up one victory in their opening five Super League games and need to start picking up points to climb the table away from danger.
By the time they kick-off at St Helen’s on Monday, the Red Devils will have had a nine-day, but will then face three games in ten days. As a result, Marshall admits that plans are in place to manage the players during that period.
“There’s got to be some foresight and some strategic planning. There is a plan for certain players who we know aren’t going to be able to play in all three games because it would be too physically demanding for them. We’ve also got some players who haven’t played over the last few weeks, and they’re chomping at the bit so they’ll get an opportunity.
“It just so happens that opportunity comes against some of the best teams in the competition. You can’t identify one game that outweighs the other because of the three opponents that we’re playing. Even if we weren’t playing teams of that standard, we probably wouldn’t do anything different so bring it on.”
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