Salford Red Devils will be hoping to return to winning ways when Leeds Rhinos visits the The Salford Stadium tonight in Round 6 of the Betfred Super League.
After an excellent start to the season, Paul Rowley’s men will be searching for their first league win since their Round 2 home victory over Toulouse Olympique.
Friday’s opponents have had a poor start to the season. Tipped for a successful campaign, Leeds have only won one of their opening five Betfred Super League matches, with an 8-31 home defeat to Hull FC last Thursday a real worry.
The Rhinos – coached by Richard Agar – will also be looking to kickstart their season with a positive performance – so it has all the making of a classic encounter.
Speaking to the press before the clash, Paul Rowley was keen to point out that the opposition are a quality team, but are not yet playing to their potential.
Rowley said: “They’re a good team, not playing to their potential Leeds at the minute. So, it’s harder in the fact that they questioned themselves last week in terms of their attitude and application to their last game, so it’s highly unlikely they’ll come out with a similar mindset.
“Seems to be a trend actually that we play a team that has come off a poor performance and they’ve had a week prepping and a change of mindset, so we face them at their best.
‘So, I expect us to face a different Leeds team to last week and one that’s been a good team not playing well.”
Last week, the boss was highly critical of the team’s work in defence and highlighted that in his post-match press conference.
When asked if he’d seen a reaction in training, Rowley said: “You’ll only get a chance to see that when you do it again in a game, so I don’t know if it’s the hunger but certainly the intent in our defence was nowhere near.
“Our expectation is always from within, and our standards are always from within, but we’re going through a change here and a pretty drastic one at that.”
During last Friday’s second-half, you could really feel how much the Salford faithful lifted the performance of the players, and they’ll be looking for exactly the same against some more tough opposition.
Purchase your tickets HERE for tonight’s Round 6 clash with Leeds Rhinos.
Written by: Harry Siddall
Image credit: Steve McCormick
