Paul Rowley reckons Salford Red Devils played as well as they have done all season in their first half against Hull FC – but “losing a million quid’s worth of talent” meant they were destined to lose out. Super League’s bottom club crashed to a 14th defeat of the season with a 38-6 home defeat to the Black and Whites.
Yet they had been the side that started brightest, causing John Cartwright’s side plenty of problems in the opening half-hour. Indeed, the game was locked at 6-6 until Lewis Martin’s 27th minute try nudged the visitors ahead. Davy Litten’s score soon after meant Hull led 14-6 at the break and they upped the ante in the second period.
But Rowley, whose squad has been destroyed by mass player exits after their cash issues and is still constrained by a sustainability cap, was impressed with what they offered up. He said: “I think the first half was probably as good as we’ve been, to be honest.
“I thought we won most of the battles, statistically we were good, completing above 80%. We were putting numbers in the tackle, territory-wise we dominated. So, probably the only place we didn’t dominate enough was on the scoreboard.
“I guess, losing a million pounds worth of talent probably has an influence on that. So we’re going to have to work hard on our detail and find ways of getting over that whitewash when we do apply ourselves.
“But, like I said, that [performance] wasn’t a fluke; that was hard work.
“The lads really applied themselves in the right areas of the field as we practiced. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to sustain it. And credit to Hull, they turned that round on its head and did what we did to them first half to us in the second, so they did have the personnel to put us to the sword. So credit to them.
“But I am disappointed, from putting ourselves in a position where we can challenge and look to try and get something from the game, to end up on such a scoreline.”
Asked if more experience would have proved the difference, given the youthful nature of his side, Rowley replied: “Experience. But also sometimes, without disrespecting our players, you take [Marc] Sneyd, [Tim] Lafai, [Nene] Macdonald, [Kallum] Watkins, out of the team, they’re people who break tackles and get over the whitewash or find a way of unlocking opponents.
“So it’s not only losing individuals but replacing them with players that then have to learn about one another and start the journey again and process again.
“We don’t want to keep looking back but you would want to score more points is the simple answer: if you’re going to have so much territory and be so good in possession, you just need to score more points. So we’ll work on that.”