Salford Red Devils thrashed by Hull KR

Salford Red Devils 12 - 74 Hull KR

Another heavy defeat for Salford in what has been a nightmare season 

Author | Liam C

Stadium | Salford Community Stadium

To their credit, the players aren't giving up. The fans are still supporting them. There's still a future for the club if this mess can get sorted.

In this match, Joe Burgess scored four of Hull Kingston Rovers' 14 tries as they thrashed this depleted Salford side to open up a four-point gap at the top of Super League.

The winger equalled the club's Super League record for tries in a match as Mikey Lewis came up with nine assists and a try of his own to make it back-to-back wins for the leaders.

A closer look at what happened on the pitch

Salford, hampered by these financial problems and a player exodus this season, suffered more woe this week as another late payment of wages meant some players were unavailable, and their patched-up side was under the cosh from the first minute.

The Robins were ruthless as they piled on the points to claim their biggest win.

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At one point in the match, the Red Devils did manage to unsettle the league leaders when Justin Sangare crashed over for an unexpected try,

This would barely prove to be a footnote though. Tom Davies would score two tries to take his tally to 99 in Super League, while Rhyse Martin also went over the line twice and kicked his 1,000th point in the competition with seven conversions.

The Robins equalled their biggest Super League winning margin of 62, which had only recently been set in the 68-6 win against Catalans Dragons in June. 

A constantly evolving situation for Salford 

There is no blame to be placed on Salford’s youthful squad, who have shown remarkable commitment despite the challenges, nor on the coaching staff or the loyal supporters in the stands, who remain firmly behind this group through every twist of the season and will continue to stand by them beyond. What comes next may well be life in the Championship.

Head coach Paul Rowley admitted the squad was in something of a constant flux on matchday, with player availability changing by the hour. Speaking after a day of upheaval, he said he had little choice but to turn up and see who was fit to play. He praised the players for pushing themselves to take the field and the staff for maintaining a committed attitude in difficult circumstances. Rowley acknowledged the strain placed on fans and reiterated that each individual has their own limit.