Firmly on the back of a successful visit to Yorkshire, the two points from which pushed the Red Devils into the top eight for the first time this season, attention turns now to the task of remaining there and by building upon that win making further progress up the table.
With the visit of Wakefield on Friday evening, comes the first chance of so doing, as the Yorkshiremen, fresh from their remarkable victory over St Helens, look themselves to consolidate their league position immediately above us.
The importance of this game, therefore, is quite considerable, but then, so too, was the Huddersfield game, this time last week – a fact certainly not wasted on Assistant Coach, Martin Gleeson.
Gleeson said: “That was definitely one we needed, because it keeps us in touch with the others up there, and the lads worked really hard for it. We did what we set out to do, which was putting a lot of pressure on the opposition and being disciplined in the early stages, which puts you in a good position for the rest of the game.
“The difficulty comes when you drift away from that, and then the tables are reversed, and you end up putting yourself under pressure from them. When we are disciplined we can play really well as we showed in the early and later stages of the game.”
The requirement for them, therefore, is to ensure on Friday that they sustain their disciplined approach throughout the game, which will more than assist them in their task.
“Wakefield are a really good side, especially with the ball, as they have smart half backs, and fast three-quarters, but we have given them a good game already this season. We have been practising a game plan today which we think will combat them, so if we stick to what we have planned we will be able to cause them some problems.”
Memories of our early season visit seem to have lingered through the club, throughout the intervening months, as a game we really could have won, and the opportunity to square things up will be most welcome to us all.
“We didn’t start very well, that evening, and we ended up chasing the game, mainly because we weren’t patient enough, trying to score tries from the kick off, which led to us making errors, and we just looked a bit over-eager, while our execution was a bit rusty. I believe that going into this game, though, we can get a result.”
The decision to present Ben Nakubuwai with another starting role with us, last Sunday, certainly paid dividends as he repaid the faith in him by backing up Mark Flanagan’s break to score Salford’s second try.
“We analyse people’s performances week in week out, while also assessing the nature of the anticipated game, to determine just how the players should be used to best fit the requirements of each game.
“Ben had certainly made progress over the weeks, and he is quick and has good footwork for a big man playing in the middles, which is where we are wanting him to play. He took his opportunity really well.
As things turned out, the match developed into a fairly rough encounter, the consequence of which was that a few injuries came along to complicate things this week.
“We picked up a handful of injuries some of which could limit chances of selection. It’s the result of the Easter period, and at the moment we still don’t know what the team is likely to be.”
Foresight has determined, however, that the squad now comprises of players of relatively similar quality, primarily so that the change of personnel should not be an overly massive issue, these days.
“That is especially true of the forwards, where we do have a bit of depth, so we will have players to step in and take over. We just have to go out and do the job.”
