Our first pre-season friendly of 2023 is just around the corner, with our lads hard at work preparing for the visit of Swinton Lions.
See the full training gallery below!
Photos by Steve McCormick:
GALLERY – SWINTON IN OUR SIGHTS!
Tag: Swinton Lions
SALFORD RED DEVILS 2023 PRE-SEASON TICKET INFORMATION
Salford Red Devils are facing Swinton Lions at home and Wigan Warriors away in anticipation of our 2023 Betfred Super League campaign.
Both friendly matches will hand Paul Rowley’s men the chance to earn valuable pre-season minutes and allow the Head Coach to assess his squad ahead of the season curtain raiser against Leigh Leopards.
All the relevant ticket information for both fixtures can be found below:
Swinton Lions – Sunday 29th January @ 1pm (Buy HERE)
- Unreserved Seating in West Stand ONLY.
- Season tickets are NOT valid.
- Prices are £10 adults, £5 senior and kids (£20 and £15 in 1873 lounge).
- Swinton Lions supporters will be sat in W01-W04, with Salford Red Devils supporters in W05-W08.
- Tickets are currently digital only, with paper tickets to become available in the next two weeks!
- Disabled tickets must be purchased over the phone or in person at the stadium.
Wigan Warriors – Sunday 5th February @ 3pm (Sam P0well testimonial) (Buy HERE)
- Unreserved seating in West Stand.
- Tickets available to buy online or at the stadium.
- Adults £20, Senior £15, Under 18’s £10.
- Under 8s are free of charge, but these must be ordered over the phone or in person – as do ambulant disabled tickets.
- Wheelchair tickets can be purchased via Wigan on: 01942311111.
SALFORD RED DEVILS TO HOST SWINTON LIONS IN PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY
Salford Red Devils will take on Swinton Lions at the Salford Stadium on Sunday, January 29th, in our first pre-season friendly of 2023.
The Red Devils last faced Swinton in January 2022, where a new-look Salford earned a hard-fought 48-12 victory during Paul Rowley’s first game in charge.
This particular fixture will kick-off at 1pm, with an array of first-team stars set to gain valuable game time ahead of the Betfred Super League campaign.
This game will also act as the first opportunity for supporters to see some of our new recruits in action.
Adam Sidlow, Ben Hellewell and Andrew Dixon are familiar faces in Red and White, but Oliver Partington, Sam Stone and Ellis Longstaff are three exciting new additions.
The last meeting between the sides was the first time we saw now-Man of Steel, Brodie Croft in action for the Reds, with a number of other first-team regulars also making their full debuts.
Ticket details to follow, so keep your eyes peeled on our social media…
RED DEVILS IN DEPTH: SALFORD v SWINTON PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY
RED DEVILS IN DEPTH: SALFORD V SWINTON PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY
As was probably widely expected, Salford Red Devils concluded the first of this season’s three friendly games, with a comfortable 48-12 victory, at the A J Bell, on Sunday afternoon, over their historic, local rivals, Swinton Lions. The scoreline might have appeared that way, but the plucky visitors, at times, tested their hosts to the hilt, particularly at the commencement of each half.
The opening ten minutes to the encounter saw the Lions firmly established in the Salford twenty metre area, where they launched foray after foray of attacks on the home team’s line. Although there was nothing on the scoreboard to show for it all, they did force a couple of goal-line drop-outs, and were somewhat unfortunate to lose the ball in the act of crossing the line, on one occasion.
There is nothing like back-to-back tries, however, to put aa team in the driving seat, and it was not a case of two, but three scores in a five-minute blitz, between the 11th and 15th minutes, which put the Red Devils 14-0 up and firmly in command, thereafter.
The Lions’ period of ascendency, at the start of the second half, however, was rather more protracted, and considerably more rewarding in terms of points. It was fifteen-minutes into the half before the impasse was broken with the first of their two tries, when Salford failed, close to their line, to secure a loose ball from a Swinton kick.
Unlike their Super League opponents, however, they were unable to make their scores back-to-back, with the Red Devils cancelling out this first one, four minutes later, with a try of their own sandwiched between the Lions’ pair, the second of which came as a result of Salford players being foxed by a tricky kick-off, and former Salford U19s forward, Will Hope, took advantage to double their score. Indeed, Swinton had had an earlier success in reclaiming the ball from one of their own kick-offs, in the first half.
For Salford, though, the outing was more one for performance, and in this respect there was much to please the home fans, with the left flank looking absolutely unstoppable and most incisive on attack, and indeed not only did those first three back-to-back tries come down that edge, so too did a couple of others, later.
Not to be outdone, however, the right side also featured, courtesy of Ken Sio’s brace, coming singly in each half, and he would appear to be every bit as reliable in crossing as he was in last season’s leading SL try-scoring feat. With three defenders left straggled on the ground for his first, it might have seemed to have been as a consequence of weak tackling, but we are all only too aware of the surprising power in his hit-ups against much more experienced opposition to be lulled into that kind of thinking.
True there were a few issues, which, so early in the season, and with so many newcomers into the side, is hardly surprising. Many of these appeared to be around timings, as exemplified by Sam Luckley’s premature run onto Brodie Croft’s chip kick and the consequent disallowing of his try between the posts.
It was particularly encouraging to see so many of the tries going to new players in the team, with Brodie Croft, Ryan Brierley, Deon Cross, and Shane Wright joining established Salfordians Andy Ackers, Matt Costello, and Rhys Williams, who all also crossed for a try apiece.
The visit of Halifax, this coming Friday evening, will see an upping of the intensity before a full-on Super League level clash, at Warrington, KO 7.30pm, concludes the preparations for the 2022 season.
2022 PRE-SEASON FIXTURES ANNOUNCED
Salford Red Devils are delighted to announce our pre-season fixtures ahead of the 2022 season.
Preparation for the 2022 campaign will begin on Saturday 15th January against Swinton Lions, kick-off at 2 pm, with our Women’s team playing their first-ever game against Swinton Lionesses on the same day, at 11:45 am, in what promises to be an exciting doubleheader at the AJ Bell Stadium.
On Friday 21st January, Paul Rowley’s men will host Betfred Championship outfit, Halifax Panthers, a team that our head coach represented for six years during his playing career and the side that our new hooker, Amir Bourouh, spent a spell on loan with during the 2021 season. This clash will kick off at 7:30 pm at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Our last test of pre-season comes in the form of an away trip to The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday 4th February to play Warrington Wolves, kick-off 7:45 pm, in what will be former club captain Lee Mossop’s testimonial game. Tickets are sold through the Warrington Wolves website, Salford Fans should note the seating arrangements for home and away supporters before purchasing.
Tickets are available now for all three of our pre-season fixtures.
Support of Salford Red Devils by purchasing a 2022 season ticket HERE.
SAM LUCKLEY REMAINS A RED UNTIL END OF 2022
Salford Red Devils are delighted to announce that Sam Luckley’s contract has been extended, keeping him at the club until at least the end of the 2022 season.
Luckley, who started his career at Newcastle Thunder, linked up with Salford ahead of the 2021 season and has put in some solid performances in a Red Devils shirt.
The Scotland international spent some time on loan at Betfred Championship side Swinton Lions this season, which was beneficial to his development.
Speaking on his contract extension, Luckley said: “I’m over the moon that the club have decided to extend my stay for another year, I’ve loved every minute of my first season in Super League.
I’ve learnt so much and developed a lot in my game and I believe at this point in time staying at Salford will help me develop further. Despite some of the results from the last season, I believe Salford is a club on the up and I’ll do all I can to help get this club where it needs to be.”
Director of rugby and operations Ian Blease added: “Working along with his agent, keeping Sam at the Red Devils for another year and hopefully for longer is a great move for us as a club and Sam as a player, as we look to develop him further as a player and a person.
He leaves everything on the field every time he plays and has a strong maiden season in Super League. Sam is one of the youngest players in our squad, so he can only get better from here.”
Join Luckley in 2022 by purchasing a Season Ticket at an early bird price. Tickets can be purchased HERE.
Red Devils recruitment is brought to you by Morson.
Talking Points | Salford Red Devils 52-6 Swinton Lions
Following Salford Red Devils’ comfortable victory over Swinton Lions in their first game of 2019, we take a look at some of the talking points from the fixture.
Attacking threat
The Red Devils ran in eleven tries in a controlled performance against Swinton and the attacking skill Ian Watson’s men possess was on show throughout. Junior Sa’u, Greg Johnson and Joey Lussick all profited from the attacking display crossing for braces while there was also another five Red Devils on the scoresheet.
Sa’u and Johnson’s tries all came on the back of some quick hands out wide. However, there was a number of occasions when Salford broke from deep thanks to the likes of Mark Flanagan, Niall Evalds, Jackson Hastings and young debutant Connor Davies-Aspey.
Flanagan – who began at loose-forward but went on to operate as half – linked up well with Evalds on a number of occasions which led to some great Red Devils tries. Hastings went through the line in almost identical fashion to his debut against Leeds Rhinos last year to set up Sa’u’s second try.
If the Red Devils can continue to cause problems from all over the field, we could see some more excellent tries throughout 2019.
Connor Davies-Aspey
Salford Red Devils Academy player Connor Davies-Aspey was awarded a one-month trial earlier this week and he certainly made the most of his opportunity against Swinton with an impressive cameo in the final twenty minutes of the game.
Davies-Aspey came onto the field and managed to make three clean breaks. His break in the final ten minutes put winger Derrell Olpherts over in the corner and he was close to finishing the game with two try-assists however pulled the trigger a second too early on his pass to Jansin Turgut just minutes earlier.
Head Coach Ian Watson praised the young hooker in his post-match press conference saying it ‘was great for young kid to come in and do that’. Read more of Ian Watson’s reaction here.
Davies-Aspey has certainly put himself in contention for a place in the squad next weekend as the Red Devils face current Betfred Super League champions Wigan Warriors in a pre-season friendly at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Versatility and depth
After the interval, Ian Watson made four changes to the starting side with Greg Johnson and Derrell Olpherts coming onto the field in place of Ed Chamberlain and Jake Bibby. Both Johnson and Olpherts would go on to score in the second half showing the quality of the Red Devils’ options on the wing this season.
In the pack, the likes of Tyrone McCarthy and Ben Nakubuwai entered the fray and made an impact following impressive forty-minute stints from Lee Mossop and new recruit Gil Dudson in the first half.
Half-back duo Jackson Hastings and Rob Lui both left the field midway through the second half with Mark Flanagan, Joey Lussick and Niall Evalds jumping into the halves. Salford’s try-scoring form didn’t slow down, and the Red Devils continued to look smooth in the absence of a permanent half-back.
The crowd
On a cold January afternoon fans of both Salford Red Devils and Swinton Lions braved the conditions to watch their sides putting together a solid showing for a pre-season friendly with 1798 people in attendance.
Salford vs Swinton is a fixture – that was Head Coach Ian Watson pointed out earlier in the week – doesn’t happen too often anymore so it has become somewhat of a sought-after attraction. Our Betfred Championship visitors brought a strong following down the road to the AJ Bell Stadium this weekend while our loyal Red Devils were in fine voice as always showing the passion for the game in the local area.
Next weekend, the Red Devils host another local side in Wigan Warriors, and we’ll be hoping for a similarly strong turnout.
Ian Watson | “I thought we looked quite smooth”
Salford Red Devils got 2019 off to a great start with a 54-6 victory over local rivals Swinton Lions and Head Coach Ian Watson was pleased with various aspects of his side’s performance.
On the game…
I thought it was a good performance and we did what we’ve worked on in the pre-season. We got out of our own half a little bit too easily as we got quite a few penalties on tackle three. I’d have like to see a little more of an arm-wrestle to see more of what we have worked on. But everything that was put in front of the boys they reacted really well to especially when we were making all the changes to mix it up a bit people got plenty of game time.
On adapting following the changes…
I thought we looked quite smooth even when Jackson [Hastings] and Rob [Lui] came off and we put Niall [Evalds] into the halves. We’ve done a bit of practice in training running with different combinations just in case anything happens. We know we’ve got a small squad, but we’ve got players who can play in different positions and that was on show for us against Swinton.
On Connor Davies-Aspey’s debut…
I was really pleased for him. He’s a baby, to be fair, and I thought he did great. He made a couple of breaks and a little bit of inexperience cost him from making a try for Jansin [Turgut] but he created a nice try for Derrell [Olpherts]. I’m sure he’ll be telling everyone about nearly getting his ribs knocked out as well, but I thought it was great for a young kid to come in and do that.
On fellow triallist – Calvin Wellington…
Calvin did really well coming in at left centre. He has the ability to play on both sides and he transfers the ball really well, but he suits us with him not having a preference as to which side he plays on.
On the players who didn’t feature…
All going well they should be included next weekend against Wigan. With the game being a little different at the moment with the stop clock we wanted our middles to get decent minutes and get used to how it feels to be under the pump and play under the stop clock. That’s why we didn’t make a change in the first half and then let the middles run for a full forty in the second half, also.
On how the players handled the stop clock…
We’ve got players here who are big enough and fit enough to play long minutes if you look at the first half, we had Mark Flanagan, Lee Mossop and Gil Dudson who all did a full forty and handled it really comfortably.
On the stop clock…
It flowed a lot better today. I thought the first ten minutes went really quickly, it used to take a long time to get to the ten-minute mark in some games but today I thought the stop clock helped today and it sped the game up. My thing with it was when you’re watching a game on Sky Sports, they were finishing way beyond 10pm and the game was getting dragged out longer and longer, but I think the stop clock kind of drags that back in really rather than it being stop-start. Hopefully, it’ll make the Betfred Super League more entertaining.
On goal kicking…
No, we’ve no issues there. Ed [Chamberlain] practices religiously so we’ve not got much of a problem with that. It was fairly windy when Ed was out there kicking today. The good thing is last year I don’t think we had a single goal kicker for the majority but now we’ve got a handful of genuine goal kickers – Ed, Jackson, Rob, Joey [Lussick] and Niall likes to put a kick in every now and again. So, we’ve no worries in that department.
Tickets for Salford Red Devils’ next pre-season friendly are available to purchase at the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. For a reminder of ticket prices, click HERE.
Salford Red Devils 2019 Season Tickets are still available to purchase from the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. You can spread the cost via Direct Debit payments, for more details, click HERE.
Match Report | Salford Red Devils 52-6 Swinton Lions
Salford Red Devils got 2019 off to a perfect start with an eleven-try rout over local rivals Swinton Lions at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Junior Sa’u, Greg Johnson and Joey Lussick all grabbed braces on a rampant afternoon for Ian Watson’s men while Jackson Hastings, Niall Evalds, Rob Lui, Ed Chamberlain and Derrell Olpherts also got their names on the scoresheet.
It was Sa’u who opened the scoring powering over from close-range after collecting the ball at the second attempt. Hastings was the provider for the opener, but he soon turned try-scorer six minutes in pouncing on Lui’s neat kick under the posts.
The Red Devils fast start continued when Mark Flanagan found Evalds on his inside to cut open the Swinton defence for the third time in the opening fifteen minutes. However, the Lions did cross shortly after as Oscar Thomas’ low kick wasn’t dealt with by Salford and Mike Butt was quickest to react.
Swinton’s revival was short-lived however as Lui managed to fend off three Swinton defenders to force his way over after jinking inside. With around eight minutes of the half remaining Chamberlain benefitted from some quick hands out wide to further the lead going into the break.
Head Coach Ian Watson made five changes at the break and it was substitute Johnson who got the scoring for the second half underway. The winger went close a minute earlier but was held down by Lewis Hatton who was sent to the sin-bin. However, Johnson did get on the end of a well-timed Kris Welham pass moments later.
In similar fashion to the first half, Flanagan would again find an onrushing Evalds on the inside and the full-back found Lussick in support who notched his first of the afternoon. Evalds was causing all sorts of problems for Swinton and his quick play at first receiver followed by a sublime tip-on from Welham put Johnson in for his second in just six minutes.
A try-scoring run of four in nine minutes was rounded off when Lussick’s low kick was chased down by Welham with the centre then giving it back to the Australian for his second.
Swinton would be handed another yellow card when Butt held down Olpherts who had raced seventy metres from his own try-line. The man advantage again proved dividend for Salford as Academy player and triallist Connor Davies-Aspey cut through the Lions line before finding Olpherts in the corner to round off the scoring.
Salford welcome current Betfred Super League champions Wigan Warriors to the AJ Bell Stadium on Sunday 20th January, 2pm kick-off, in their second pre-season friendly.
Salford Red Devils: Evalds, Bibby, Sa’u, Welham, Chamberlain; Lui, Hastings; Mossop, Lussick, Dudson, Jones, Turgut, Flanagan.
Interchanges: Griffin, McCarthy, Nakubuwai, Johnson, Olpherts, Davies-Aspey, Wellington.
Swinton Lions: Hansen, Butt, Lloyd, Williams, Aaronson; Fairclough, Thomas; Bennion, Waterworth, Austin, Hope, Jones, Hatton.
Interchanges: Brickhill, Gray, Hall, Halton, Jones, Kenga, Ratu, Warne, Worrall, Ashton.
Salford Tries: Sa’u (3’, 35’), Hastings (6’), Evalds (13’), Lui (19), Chamberlain (33’), Johnson (54’ 60), Lussick (56, 63’), Olpherts (76’).
Salford Goals: Chamberlain (7’, 14’, 34’), Lussick (64’).
Swinton Tries: Butt (16’).
Swinton Goals: Thomas (17’).
Swinton Sin-bins: Hatton (52’), Butt (67’).
Referee: Liam Moore.
Attendance: 1798.
Ian Watson | “We’re definitely excited.”
Ahead of tomorrow’s pre-season friendly against Swinton Lions, Salford Red Devils Head Coach Ian Watson gave his thoughts on a variety of topics including pre-season, his squad and this weekend’s opponents.
On getting back underway…
“We’re really excited. We’ve got through all the tough stuff in pre-season and now it’s time to get started and now it’s about what we can do on the field and seeing where we are at particularly in regard to the start of the Betfred Super League season and fine tuning those last little details. But, we’re definitely excited.”
On the fixture…
“Salford vs Swinton doesn’t happen all that often anymore so it’s always good when we get to go head-to-head. It’s going to be a great occasion at the AJ Bell Stadium and I’m hoping we see a big crowd to support the lads for the first game of 2019.”
On squad selection…
“We’ll go strong. The lads who’ve impressed in pre-season will get first shot because you get rewarded and some of the lads have really put their hands up in pre-season. Jake Bibby has come on leaps and bounds while Ed Chamberlain has been outstanding since he joined. We will give the majority of them a game, but we may hold a few back for our second pre-season game against Wigan Warriors next weekend.”
On the two triallists…
“We’ve got young Connor Davies-Aspey who is 16 years old and is from our Salford Red Devils Education Academy team. It’s a big plus for the Salford Red Devils Foundation that he has come in and trained with us and he’s done really well. We’ve decided to give him a one-month trial and maybe hand him an appearance this weekend against Swinton.
“The other triallist is Calvin Wellington who came through the ranks at St Helens and has been away playing Rugby Union. Hgot a very good background. We’ll see how he goes against Swinton.”
On a few injuries…
“Both Josh Wood and Logan Tomkins picked up injuries at the backend of last season and are still recovering.
“Josh Wood has been in full-time training with the squad, but he needs to up his contact a little more before we can give him a game. He’s a little behind schedule for where we need him to be but in the next month, we’ll start to get him where we need him to be.
“Logan Tomkins has missed all of pre-season out on the field and his injury is just about us making sure we get him to the right stage so that he doesn’t struggle again on his return.”
On Swinton Lions…
“Swinton have rebuilt really well, and they’ve got a strong squad. Of course, they’ve signed Gavin Bennion who was with us last season, so he is going to want to have a big game and they’ve got a few other players with Salford links so it’s going to be interesting.”
Tickets for the game are still available to purchase and you can do so prior to the game from the AJ Bell Stadium Ticket Office. You can also purchase over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or by simply clicking HERE.
For a reminder of prices, click HERE.