Salford Red Devils vs London Broncos
Super League – Sunday 10th February – AJ Bell Stadium KO 3:00PM
The Red Devils will be looking to make it two wins from two Super League matches as they lock horns with newly promoted London Broncos at the AJ Bell this weekend.
Salford got off to winning ways in the first game of the season, as Ian Watson’s men started strongly, defeating an injury hit - but never-the-less fully committed - Huddersfield Giants by 13-34.
Ian Watson quite rightly identified the stability in the half backs and the importance of having the spine of the team available for a full pre-season. “They were all keen to get back over after the qualifiers last year.
“Everyone wanted to be back for the first day of pre-season. We are really happy with where we are, but we know we’ve got improvement in us as a group as well.”
He has every right to be happy. With a high power, ball playing forward line and destructive backs, Salford flew out of the blocks and left Huddersfield in their wake last week and have every chance to put on another impressive performance in their opening home game.
London however, will be no push over. The so called “Perennial underdogs” (who shocked everyone in the MPG last season overcoming the multi-talented and much favoured Toronto Wolfpack, 4-2) had an extremely impressive start to their campaign, defeating established Super League side, Wakefield Trinity 42-24, running in 8 tries and battling pound for pound with Trinity’s large pack.
As well as the power from the forwards, Salford will have to be weary of the outside backs, as the Broncos have pace to burn with Rhys Williams and Kieron Dixon in the side.
With both teams naming unchanged 19’s from their week 1 victories, let’s focus on some of the matchups that could decide Sunday’s game:
Prop: Gill Dudson v Eddie Battye
Gil Dudson: Some people’s man of the match in last week’s run out, the 28-year-old Welshman’s opening performance was a mixture of barnstorming running and big hits. With 87 metres and a huge 44 tackles, this paved the way for the backs to show their fluency and another big shift this week could mean more space and time for Hastings, Evalds, et al. to turn on the style.
Eddie Battye is somewhat of a cult figure across the Rugby League landscape. Since joining London in 2016, the 27-year-old has played 73 times for them, his no-nonsense attitude and ability to stay just on the right side of the rules, means he regularly gets involved in altercations with other props.
Watson will be well aware of this and must guard the Salford forward line against taking things too far and getting involved, when the bigger picture is to be considered.
Expect fireworks as these props match up.
Stand-off: Robert Lui vs Jordan Abdull
Rob Lui has enjoyed the freedom of playing with Jackson Hastings and has recently been thriving with the weight of expectation lifted from him. Though the game against Huddersfield didn’t result in his best performance, expect a strong come back in front of the Salford faithful against the Broncos team.
His kicking game will be important, so it will be crucial the forwards give him good field position, while he’ll leave Hastings to marshal the troops ahead of him.
Jordan Abdull made his name around Hull, playing for both FC and KR. The latter a very impressive loan spell in 2017 making 23 appearances and scoring 12 tries. He will be keen to stamp his authority for London Broncos early in the season and had an impressive game in the win against Wakefield. Between him and James Cunningham, expect plenty of tactical kicking during the game.
Wing: Ken Sio vs Rhys Williams
After grabbing a brace of tries against the Giants on Friday, Sio will be looking forward to his first competitive home debut when he lines up on Sunday. He is someone the Red Devils desperately needed out wide. Someone with pace and the ability to bust tackles and turn the opposition round. He is a true attacking option and coupled with Sa’u on the flank looked exceptionally dangerous.
Watson will be keen to pair them together again and has named Sa’u in the 19, despite suggesting he may not be fit enough to feature this weekend with a rib injury. It will be interesting to see the team sheet on Sunday afternoon.
Rhys Williams will be familiar to Red Devils fans, having appeared for us on loan, during the 2013 season and impressing with 13 tries from 18 games. He tried his hand down under for a season before returning to the England RL setup with London in 2015.
It’s clear he knows where the try line is, scoring 87 tries in 124 appearances so far for the Broncos, however, will his return to Super League be a step too far? It doesn’t appear so after grabbing a brace in week 1 against Wakefield. The pacey Welshman will be looking to do the same this weekend, so the pace out wide will be something Ian Watson will be keeping an eye on to ensure they don’t get too much time and space to cause problems.
Fullback: Niall Evalds vs Alex Walker
After a fantastic performance against Huddersfield last week, bagging a hat-trick of tries and a lot of plaudits from fans and pundits alike, Niall Evalds is finally delivering what his potential showed in the last few seasons.
With the full back position his own and a chance to bring the ball to the line as a pivot between Hastings and Lui, the 25-year-old is clearly relishing given the opportunity. It’s not only his attacking prowess but his defensive work, positioning and reliability under the high ball that must make him one of the first names on the team sheet.
Alex Walker, along with Evalds is one of the most under-rated fullbacks in the competition. His heroics during the Million Pound Game against the Wolfpack will surely make people sit up and take notice. He was playing with dislocated fingers and 1 broken one and still managed to make what’s been dubbed the Million Pound Tackle, stopping Blake Wallace one on one and holding him up preventing a match winning try.
It’s not just his defensive attitude that Salford need to pay heed to, in week 1, he assisted in 4 of their 8 tries, demonstrating that he can clearly mix it in Super League.
London will obviously be determined for a result this weekend. However, with tough mobile ball playing forwards and an expansive, settled back line, Salford will be exceptionally confident of building on the performance last week.
C’mon Salford!
Preview by Richard Lowe
Pictures by Steve McCormick
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