Salford boss Marshall prepared for players’ burnout from tight schedule as Rhinos clash delayed

Salford Red Devils’ head coach Richard Marshall has said that he is prepared for three Super League games in eight days but admits the situation is far from ideal with an already small pack to pick from.

The Red Devils were due to face Leeds Rhinos at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night, but because of players being involved in the mid-season international between England and the Combined Nations All-Stars taking place at the same time, the Rhinos stated that they would’ve been unable to compile a squad.

Consequently, the clash has been pushed back a further two days to Sunday afternoon, something which Marshall understands but is still frustrated by.

“We’d have liked to have played on Friday, the original date of the game, but that wasn’t to be. It won’t affect us particularly for the Leeds game, but it will for the Wakefield game on Thursday. We have to back up Thursday and then Monday against Hull [FC], so we’ve got three games in eight days.

“It’s a big ask for our small squad, we’ve got injuries like every other team, but we haven’t got an academy or a reserve grade so there’s different factors. We’re up against it, but that’s what we do here at Salford. We come out, back into a corner and we fight, and that’s what we’ll be doing this weekend.”

Like the Rhinos, Salford also have a vested interest in the international fixture with both winger Ken Sio and prop Pauli Pauli having been selected for the Combined Nations side by coach Tim Sheens.

Despite their potential involvement in that game on Friday night, club coach Marshall says that Salford may have to call upon them come Sunday when Leeds come to town due to a sheer lack of available bodies.

“We’ll have to name those two boys in the squad because we just haven’t got enough players, so they will be named in the squad. Whether they end up playing, I’m not quite sure yet. We’ve got to make sure that player welfare is first and foremost, it’s paramount for us at this club.

“Some Leeds players may have to back up as well, it’s an option for us to look at, and it’s something we’ve spoken about as a group. If you’ve got a fully fit squad, and you can rotate, then you would be doing that, but we haven’t got that luxury.

“Kallum Watkins, Kev Brown, there are a lot of long-term injuries. We picked up a couple more at the weekend who won’t be involved, so for this situation we have just got to take each game on its merits and try to put our best team out.

“We are still looking to bring players in but everybody’s in the same situation. We’ve recalled our players and we’ll look at putting our best team out each and every single game, that’s all that we can do.”

45-year-old Marshall has previously been involved in the international side of rugby league and will now spend his Friday night at the Halliwell Jones watching his players in action, so wanted to highlight its’ importance within the game.

Speaking to Prost International in the build-up to the Leeds fixture, the Salford boss said that players should be welcoming being able to play for their country, as long as it doesn’t impact on their clubs.

“The international programme needs to be supported and rewarded. Everyone should make themselves available, but not at the detriment of clubs like ourselves who have small squads. We’ve got a quality team here, a team full of international players, and I’m an advocate of the international game, but we probably should have put it as a standalone fixture and made it a free weekend for everyone else so that we could all enjoy it.

“It’s just too much of an ask, that’s the main point to come out of this. My priority is my players. Making sure that they’re fit, injury free and in good spirits. We’ve had a few knockbacks in the last few weeks in terms of performances, and we want to ride the crest of the wave from last week but this probably has dampened it a little bit.”

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