On reflection this has to be one of the worst Salford performances ever, under the circumstances.

Can someone explain to me how professional athletes can hit the wall after just 10 minutes of physical activity? All the bull$hit from several players about feeling fitter than ever and it being a very tough pre-season is laughable. These lot should be on at the comedy store, not a rugby league pitch. Disgraceful.

I can't believe the team last night was pretty much the same team as Saturday. On Saturday we looked structured in both defence and attack (Barring about 10 minutes in the first half), committed and really up for it. Last night we looked disinterested, unstructured (Apart from the first 15 minutes) in both defence and attack.
The difference I thought was the fact that Kevin Locke was put into the team ahead of Niall Evalds. I'm not calling Kevin Locke because he's a world class player when he's fit.
Last night he was put into the team when he obviously wasn't fit. He even looked as though he was limping before we kicked off! That meant that a number of players didn't have the confidence in his defence because they knew he wasn't fit. As mentioned earlier BJB was virtually dropping back to Full Back half the time.
I think that there may have been pressure put on Iestyn Harris to play Kevin Locke last night and it upset the balance of the team not to mention the team spirit that was evident to the great Salford following at Warrington.
One other point, why play one of the best strike second rowers in world rugby as a prop forward? Leave Gareth where he plays best because we have enough Props on our books this year.
Hopefully it's a blip in the season with a relatively new team.
I for one was very disappointed last night, but it won't stop me turning out home and away in the future.
Bring on the next game

The attendance was the first thing you thought of after that? Do you sit looking at attendance figures with tissues to hand, just in case?



It's a fair comment, to be honest. It was a very interesting comment from Koukash. Hopefully just posted in the heat of the moment.

I think enough's been said on the performance. Crap. Spineless. I know we're only two games in, but it needs a big turnaround from last night. With having fewer games before the cut-off this year, you can't start writing games off. Needs a superb performance against Hull FC, hopefully we'll get it and all will be forgotten.

I think we can just put this down to a bad day at the office. But please no more Tommy Lee - Fages/Hood need to be the go forward! Fages made a big difference from dummy half. Chase needs to improve as well

I'd look more at Dobson/Fages in the halves and Chase at hooker.

The more I see the less I think that Chase can play outside another halve, playing him at hooker would allow for his individualism too shine.

Great Shout MR i think Dobbo has a dislocated shoulder so expect to see more of Tommy Lee. Need speed round the ruck it's as simple as that.

I was thinking exactly the same

I like Tommy Lee but unless he's there just too tackle he doesn't offer enough for a modern day hooker.

Time has come too give someone else a chance and if I'm not mistaken Chase started at 9, he's not a bad tackler and will certainly get the ball away too his first receiver quicker than Lee does.

And I should say just stop playing Hock down the middle, total waste of someones talents, we brought in new props in the off season so why ruin one of our best attacking options down the middle. You'd also thing the harder more physical nature would bring on the red mist in Hock much easier.

Evalds for me starts at fullback next time for me, get Locke playing for the juniors too prove his fitness, while obviously not the main cause it was a big factor last night for me.

Chin up matey, I can remember something very similar happening at Hull in the not too distant past. We got hammered 60-0 at home to saints. We went on to win 17 of the next 18 games and got to that years Grand Final. Change takes time, it'll take time for your players to Gel. Get yourself down, support your team and see what happens. If defeats like that are happening at the end of the season, that's when you voice your concerns.

I honestly think some people are made or just flat out lying when they think that was our worst performance in 30+ years. I've been watching around 20 and I'm pretty sure I've seen worse.

That being said, it was one of the most dissapointing I've seen, mainly due to our pick up in form at the end of last season, last weeks match against wire and the hype surrounding our "star studded" team.

This is the first time I've feared for Harris' future, it may not even be his fault.

Playing Locke was stupid, he obviously wasn't fit. Unlike some fans on here, I don't think Evalds is anywhere near Locke's level, hopefully he'll reach there in time, but I'm now firmly in the camp that fullback is Evalds position to lose. Barring an injury to Evalds or a bad game or two due to lack of confidence or similiar, Locke shouldn't be making the first team anytime soon. Also, as has been mentioned earlier, was this even Harris' decision? We all know Marwan has a love in with some of the players, and Locke is definitely one of them, add to that the pressure to actually play one of our most expensive players in our first home game (again possibly from upstairs)... Harris could well have had no choice here and that put us on the back foot and left us playing catch up from the off.

Oh, Rangi Chase is magic....occasionally. He didn't turn up at all last night. I always said we should have kept Sneyd & Theo for the future and brought one half in to help mentor them, I still stick by that. Another player our manager, fans & club seem to have a love-in with. He shouldn't be undroppable, definitely not on last nights performance (and it's far from the first time).

Patterson, injured early doors and set us back for the rest of the game - not anyones fault, but adding to the amount of 'passengers' in the game it was too much. Judging from the Wire game he brings a lot to our team - but I don't think I should be judging anything from that game anymore.

Gaz Hock. First time I can say I've had enough of him. He was lucky to spend as many minutes on the pitch as he did. Such a talented player, such a stupid....Yeah.

Tommy Lee, another player I've finally had enough with. He just doesn't bring enough to the table as a hooker, I think he'd be better in the back row somewhere. Probably for someone else.

Our fitness, yet again, seemed to let us down. Nothing new there, how often have we EVER been able to say our fitness won us a game?

They're my major complaints from last night. Other players had bad days at the office too, but I don't think it was on the same level. Having to adjust half our teams positions due to the above obviously caused more issues.

It's funny really, the last game I felt like this was the same fixture last year. Early Sky game, thursday or friday night, against Saints, and it was pretty much the same kind of performance. Screw Saints.

Roll on Hull, it can't get [imuch[/i worse.

Ridyard would go well in Super League but I very much doubt he would leave Leigh for Salford. He's a local lad, life long Leigh fan and is now full time and at the heart of a team that is very much on the up with a real shot at Super League this year. Would he give that up to go and play second fiddle to Dobson and Chase at a team of mercenaries? Doubt it.

My point is, a player like him (as Liam Finn showed us at Cas) is a better bet than show pony Chase.

As a Bulls fan the best signing we made last year wasn't a player or coach. It was an experienced advisor for the inexperienced new owner. Steve Ferres brought in the coaches and players. He tells the owner how things need to be done properly. Leeds have Hetherington. You need someone who knows how to build a team and a youth development that feeds that team in the coming years.
I get the impression that Your owner desperately needs to step back and get someone in who has the game running through his veins and will advise him properly - long term and not quick fixes. Trouble is lots of rich owners think they are also coaches. We all need teams like Salford and others to lift their game to challenge the same top few clubs or this sport will slide into a boring predictable game that people can't be bothered to watch.

Once we were settle in our new stadium, Saints made the move of appointing Mike Rush, a rugby man as the MD (or CEO or whatever).

I think these comments are based on the fact the Doc has invested considerable money in the squad and player for player this team looks far superior in strength to what we have been accustomed to. I think it's for this reason that some people view it as the worst or one of the worst Salford performances in decades.

Pound for pound we have the best team assembled in Salford for well over 40 years.

Should we have beaten Saints, debatable.

Should we have been beaten in a way that humiliated us, definitely not.

Should the players have shown more passion and pride in the jersey, yes, fukkin hell yes.

I can't even try to imagine how Marwan Koukash must be feeling. It must have made him physically sick.

"and get someone in who has the game running through his veins and will advise him properly"

thought we had but lost them.

[size=50[iUnless Tarry/Sims can come back?[/i[/size

At least he can catch a high ball!!

Couldn't agree more. The Doc is clueless when it comes to Rugby League. He needs an adviser who lives for the game and is Salford through and through.

I also have the feeling that there are too many big personalities including the Doc at the club. We need solid grafters who will wear their heart on there sleeve for the club.

On par with Daniel Taylor's Utd/boob job analogy... excellent work.

On the topic of MCB can Harris give him extra homework with Martin Gleeson on how to tackle one-on-one? Some skills balls in hand but Christ I can tackle better than him.

I said at the time that Hock should have been hurtled out of the door after last year's farce and he's not doing anything to prove me wrong.

What concerned me most about Wire, and in my opinion was the primary cause of the debacle last night, is the absolute lack of team spirit. Watch the footage again on Vimeo of when BJB scores - they look unenthusiastic to say the least. You need game time to gel a team on the pitch but they've had plenty of time to gel off it now.

no TEAM SPIRIT...just a team of individuals. If Salford start a game well, then they are dangerous. Fall behind by 12+ points, and they just 'go through the motions'.

Sad as this is I think it's probably right, on Thursday there was no little effort and endevour, I remember Saints breaking the line at one point and you could actually see the spirit drain from the Salford side and it just continued to ebb away afterwards.

I can see this situation developing one or two ways. Lose the next couple and the players will start blaming Harris and the rest of the coaching team, or this could prove a huge wake up call and we'll see a huge reaction against Hull and Catalan. If the Doc's actions are anything to go by after Thursday I'd be extremely worried that he could pull the plug and that I could have a tidy contract terminated soon if I was a coach or player.

Players look for excuses when the pressure is on them, like they did with Noble. Then after a coach is sacked they come out publicly and display sympathy for the coach.

Hopefully it won't come to this and we'll see the team playing to its potential soon.

Not a great night for your boys especially so as they were being talked up bigtime by the media and the TV pundits.

Its early days yet. If it is any consolation take a look at Saints results from last season. We were on the end of a right good few knobbings throughout the season, noteably Catalan( A), both Hull clubs (A) and Warrington at Magic. These were real embarrassing defeats were again the commitment/ team spirit/ coaching staff were called into question. Clearly it came right in the end despite the adversity in the treatment room.

I think you need to take a step back, stick with it and see how the season pans out. Your team got good reports admittedly in defeat at the HJ so one poor outing is not a total disaster.