Salford begin their Super League campaign against top four fancied Wigan Warriors at the AJ Bell stadium on Friday evening.
With the Red Devils coming off the back of a friendly defeat against Warrington Wolves and the news that Manu Vatuvei is due for a long spell on the sidelines with a serious Achilles injury, there will be plenty for coach Ian Watson to look at before he picks his match-day 17.
Richard Lowe looks at where some key battles on the pitch and where the game could be decided.
Props: Lee Mossop v Ben Flower
We all remember where we were when, after just 2 minutes of the 2014 Grand final, Ben Flower leant over the already stricken St Helens player, Lance Hohaia and punched him. This of course gained Flower a certain reputation, but since then he’s built his game around hard hits and strong runs.
Salford’s Lee Mossop, once a team mate of Flower at Wigan, will be charged with making sure the Red Devils don’t see too much of him. The 29 year-old is back to full fitness after missing a lot of last season through injury after some impressive performances, so will be extremely keen to get back to the form he was in.
Loose: Mark Flanagan v Liam Farrell
With talisman Sean O’Loughlin missing from the Warriors 19, it could be that one of the second rows is deployed at loose on Friday. This would mean possibly Liam Farrell or Joel Tomkins dropping to the back of the scrum in an attempt to fill the void of the Wigan club Captain.
With Mark Flanagan making the loose forward position his own for Salford over the last few seasons – with Watto describing him as the glue that binds the team together – it’s a pivotal matchup that could go a long way to deciding who gets the points.
Flanagan, himself recovering from a shoulder injury that saw him out for the Super 8’s, will be desperate to get back on the field and hit the levels of performance that helped Salford to 4th in the regular season.
Hooker: Josh Wood v Thomas Leuluai
Josh Wood will most likely start from the interchange bench this Friday, but will almost certainly be used as replacement for Logan Tomkins.
In the absence of Kris Brining, the young hooker will want to prove he belongs at this level, looking occasionally a little light during his last season’s appearances, another year to have bulked up and honed his skills, will not have done him any harm. It’s obvious Ian Watson has faith in him, so there’s no reason to doubt his potential.
Thomas Leuluai on the other hand has nothing to prove. A world cup winner with New Zealand in 2008, the evergreen performer is a model of consistency. At 32 however, do we see him entering the Autumn of his career? Will he have lost a yard of pace from dummy half?
It’s critical the Salford forwards (and in particularly his opposite number) minimise his thinking time and also ensure that his runs are kept to a minimum, otherwise he will free up space for the rest of the Wigan team around the ruck.
Halves: Rob Lui v George Williams
The halfback partnership of Dobson and Lui is now consigned to history for the Red Devils and we must now look to the future.
With Gareth O’Brien moving into the halves along with new signing Jack Littlejohn, Salford need Rob Lui to have the consistency of performances that he has done over the last few seasons. His running game (for which he is hugely underrated) and his ability to spot a pass are his main assets and we will hope this continues for the 2018 season.
His general game management is also something that needs to come to the fore, now Michael Dobson is no longer there, particularly against such as strong side as Wigan. It’s critically important therefore, that he gets off to a good and confident start this Friday.
England international Williams, though disappointed to be left out of a lot of the World Cup, will none-the-less be a menace. Salford will need to ensure he is controlled tightly and put under pressure from his opposite number early on.
Allowing him time and space to run up to the defensive line, will be a recipe for disaster as his little kicks in behind the defence, as well as his handling skills make him a handful.
If Salford can ensure Wigan’s ball players are put under pressure and through the big pack, we manage to control the ruck speed, it could be a happy Friday for our supporters.
Going forward it’s obvious we will miss Manu Vatuvei’s strong ball carries, but there is enough talent through the halves and out wide that could see us causing the Wigan defence a great deal of problems, should we get the field position.
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