Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has criticised Salford Red Devils for fielding a ‘reserves’ side in their 82-0 drubbing against St Helens.
Salford only named 16 players for the clash with St Helens following their decision to name ‘predominantly reserve squad players’ in their squad due to ongoing disputes with the RFL regarding salary caps.
Salford entered the match still under a reduced sustainability cap of £1.2m while their new ownership consortium is still pending final approval by the RFL and despite seemingly still having first-team players available under that cap opted to field a team of reserve players, with their three first-teamers of Joe Bullock, Tiaki Chan, and Ben Hellewell on the bench.
The likes of Ryan Brierley, Esan Marsters, and Nene Macdonald featured for Salford last week in the Challenge Cup but the club opted to not play them in the opening Super League fixture.
That led to the side suffering an 82-0 demolition to Saints, with new recruit Tristan Sailor scoring four tries on his Super League debut.
Following the result, Leigh’s Beaumont took to social media to criticise the club for their decision to field only youngsters.
“Complete disrespect from Salford Red Devils to the whole of Super League, it’s stakeholders and fans it totally impacts the integrity of the comp!” he said.
“What kind of new owners allow a coach to behave in such a way?
“I feel for those players that put the shirt on and gave their all! They should have told him to put one on himself! Disgraceful!
“Blaming the RFL is totally wrong they knew what they had to do to pick from full squad and didn’t come up with it and have only themselves to blame!
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Highlights from the Betfred Super League clash between Wigan Warriors and Leigh Leopards
“Could have picked a team that went to Midlands but trying give it the RFL and care not for how they look and the damage to the game! In the words of Neil Diamond money talks! Put it in and pick your team or do one and don’t make a mockery of what we are trying to make a success of!
“I feel for the Salford fans many of whom are my friends and are furious themselves at being unnecessarily humiliated!”
Beaumont’s own side started the season with a historic 1-0 golden point extra-time win over reigning champions Wigan Warriors.
Salford head coach Paul Rowley conceded the result was an “awful look” for Super League but was unsure if the situation will be resolved before their game against Leeds Rhinos next Saturday.
He told BBC Radio Manchester: “It is an unfortunate situation. Accountability lies with several people. It is difficult, but the players had a wonderful hand dealt there because they got to have a go at the most decorated side in the league over the last decade.
“It is an awful scoreline and an awful look for the league. Salford fans saw through it, they can apply logic and understand why. The fans were awesome and gave young players a day they’ll never forget.
“I shook the players by the hand. They gave their best, Who knows [if it will be resolved by Leeds next week].”
In a lengthy interview with the BBC before their drubbing, Rowley discussed his controversial team selection, saying: “My job is to protect my players and I can’t speak highly enough of them. If that means me sitting here and taking some bullets, I’m not comfortable doing it but I’ll do it nonetheless and I’ll be proud of them.
“Nobody wants to put our great game on this stage and not have our strongest team. We were under the impression and still believing and hoping that we could play our main players.”
Rowley added on the club’s situation: “We’ve bought the Ferrari, it’s in the garage and the fuel is there but no one will let us drive it.
“There’s no logic in that. Is it a punishment or is a safety measure put in place for the club but ultimately it’s the players and staff that suffer.
“I’ll sit here and say I think there are a lot of factors. It’s a complex acquisition, it’s never happened before so I think we should all accept some accountability.”
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
