THE ORIGINAL RED DEVILS

Stat Pack | Wigan Warriors 30-0 Salford Red Devils

It was a tough evening for the Red Devils at the DW Stadium but there were still some interesting stats behind the result and we take a look in this week’s ‘Stat Pack’.
Derrell Olpherts
He was one of the three players mentioned in this week’s three talking points, but fullback Derrell Olpherts is also this week’s ‘Player in Focus’.
Olpherts had to step into the fullback role in place of an unavailable Niall Evalds and put together some impressive stats at the DW Stadium.
The former Newcastle Thunder man amounted 19 carries – more than any other Red Devil on the evening. While a percentage of these were in kick returns, Olpherts also brought the ball out from his own line with the rest of the backs on numerous occasions.
Olpherts made 180 metres from his 19 carries making him the sides biggest metre-maker on the evening also averaging 9.5 metres per carry. The fullback made nine tackles including bringing down Tom Davies in the late stages of the game.
The 26-year-old was also confident fielding kicks with six kick collections from a possible six.
Defensive shifts
With Logan Tomkins the only hooker in the Salford side last night, the former Wigan Warriors man had to play for almost a full 80 minutes before leaving for a concussion assessment in the closing stages.
Tomkins racked up a mammoth 51 tackles which was 15 more than any other Red Devil on the field. As always, Tomkins also had the most passes for Salford with 92.
Tyrone McCarthy – who is consistently one of the highest tacklers – made 36 and was equal with youngster Daniel Murray who put in another fantastic Betfred Super League performance.
Weller Hauraki and Craig Kopczak also made 30 tackles apiece.
Overall stats
Head Coach Ian Watson eluded to his sides lack of possession and amount of defence being a major factor in last night’s game against Wigan and that can be seen in the post-match stats.
Wigan had 15 more sets than Salford throughout the 80 minutes completing 37 of their 47. The Red Devils completed 23 of their 29. This was also mirrored in the amount of play-the-balls with the Warriors having 154 compared to Salford’s 118. Salford spent 11 minutes less in possession than the hosts.
The penalty count was relatively even with Salford conceding seven to Wigan’s eight. The error count was also similar with Wigan totalling six errors to Salford’s eight.

Topics