Ryan Brierley has heaped praise on the in form Nene Macdonald after another stellar display last Friday night.
The PNG international was at his thrilling best at the John Smith’s Stadium, scoring two tries in a 16-18 win against Huddersfield Giants.
His first was a stunning full length break after intercepting Jake Connor’s attempted cut-out pass, whilst his second was a powerful run from dummy-half to crash through the line.
Speaking to our YouTube channel after Captain’s run, teammate, Ryan Brierley was asked if he was surprised at the impact Macdonald has made since joining the club.
“No. I watched him play for Leigh a few years back and I realised then what a talent he was. Playing at Leeds, I saw how much of a talent he was then and how hard he is to handle,” he said.
“But regardless of the rugby, I just think we’ve brought another great character to the group. He’s that chilled – a bit of rugby nerd actually!
“You wouldn’t think it, but he loves his rugby, talking about different plays and ways he can express himself – which is what we want.
“I think this environment suits him down to the ground. It’s a very relaxed environment where you can just focus on playing rugby and enjoying yourself.
“He’s certainly doing that and I think that’s evident in his performances.”
Last weekend’s win was our seventh from ten Betfred Super League games so far this season – a run which sees us tied with five other clubs on 14 points.
In our last two outings, the Red Devils have beaten the team picked as favourites prior to kick-off.
“I suppose it’s just factual, isn’t it?” Brierley replied when asked if being the underdogs favoured his team.
“When you look at the squad spend of other teams and the resource of other teams, I think it’s fair to put us as underdogs.
“We’re not expected to do anything. Obviously it adds as a motivation that people write us off all the time, but it’s been the case ever since I came here three years ago, so nothing has really changed.”
He continued: “I think we’ve added a tough mentality with Ollie P and Singo, people like that, who have won things at big clubs, which certainly helps.
“But we’re okay with it. It’s not a tag that we kind of shout about. Especially Rowls, I think he’d rather have more resource and more money to spend, but that’s the case.
“We do well with what we’ve got and hopefully we can keep the good run of form going. Obviously we have a few injuries, so we need to manage them the best we can and come through a tough period.”
To see our full pre-match chat with Ryan, click below.
