The Garry Schofield Column: My prediction for Salford Red Devils in Super League 2024

IAN BLEASE and Paul Rowley, two people I have an awful lot of time for, really do have their work cut out to keep Salford on the map.

Both have worked wonders already, but now they have to carry on doing it against the background of financial and stadium uncertainty.

The Red Devils have secured their home for another season, and I really hope there is some progress on getting a long-term lease at the Salford Stadium.

But that seems to be down to the council sealing a deal to take total ownership, and we’ve all seen reports of how tight money is for so many local authorities.

As if the stadium situation wasn’t enough to worry about, Blease and Rowls also have to deal with the budget issues that have forced Salford to cut their cloth and transfer Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers to Leeds.

Then came the bombshell news that Ken Sio, a prolific try-scorer who was a key part of the squad for 2024, was returning to Australia for personal reasons.

Rowls has brought in some decent recruits in the likes of Nene Macdonald, Chris Hankinson, Cade Cust and Joe Mellor.

He will no doubt have his new-look side playing in the old Salford style, which will please the fans, but any club would miss players of the kind the club has lost.

Like Castleford, I reckons they will pick off a few sides, but also like Castleford, I think doing it on a regular basis will be a problem.

And with such a thin squad, any injuries will have a big impact.