Have to agree
If it looks like a fish, flaps like a fish and smells like a fish, there is probably something fishy going on and to say the least, this seems very convenient for them, especially when it's a fixture against one of their supposed "relegation rivals" .

Hard not to be suspicious, particularly as six of the required suspensions are "close contact" rather than Covid. I'd love to see if there is actual evidence of this or whether they just pointed at enough to get over the line.

My understanding that you need 7 Covid issues. Weird that it turns out to be 7 and not, say, 9 or 10..

Think its a fix myself only one player apparently as it and a further 6 have to isolate yes of course they do not to mentionthe injuries and suspensions actually hope salford get relagated now

This needs to be looked into and the isolating players need to be from the squad they named not the banned and injured list not named. Even it was one player that was named that wasn’t eligible to play anyway the game should be claimed. MC should be asking for the players isolating to be named but might not be able to do this due to data protection and confidentiality rules.

STINKS BIG TIME!!!!

I tend to agree but how do you prove it.

Cas must have slipped up somehow but Salford must have got the con trick right. Oh well.

Whilst it might look dodgy I don’t see how it can be ‘fudged’. The clubs do their own lateral flow tests but any positives have to be backed up with a PCR test by an independent company. The close contact comes from GPS data from the trackers players wear at training as well as during matches. It’s all traceable and provable. I’d suggest in this case we’ve just been very unlucky but we’ll just have to beat them in the rearranged game.

Are you sure that the GPS set ups worn by players can actually identify duration of proximity to every other player? That’s what the NHS app is designed to do but it’s not what players’ GPS is designed for.

That’s how it was described to me as working.

Thats the problem dont see howit can be proven

Close contacts are being within 1 metre of each other for 1 minute or longer, or being within 2 metres of each other for more than 15 minutes in total in 1 day.

These contacts are monitored in training and in games.

They don't wear the GPS 24 hours a day.
All they need to say is that they all went for a coffee after training.

I'm usually the conspiracy buster on here but looks very convenient to me.

Maybe Leigh will be next?
Leeds seem to conveniently 'cry off' against Catalan and Saints but are in tip top health for Leigh!

I agree, the 7 'isolating' players should be from the named 21 man squad or their 20 man squad if one of them couldn't play because he was club banned.
7 out of the 20 squad isolating is a very convenient/coincidental number.

It's obvious what is going on (not just with Salford but other clubs) and as usual Trinity are the ones losing out by playing fair.
The RFL are useless and no wonder people are walking away from the game in droves. It's becoming a bad joke.

Obviously if any of the Salford players have actually contracted COVID I wish them a speedy recovery.

Then they will have checked into the venue and it would have been picked up by the NHS track & trace.

Now's the time to scrap the percentages and announce no relegation this season.
Cheating of one kind or another seems to be more prevalent in Rugby League as each season goes by. Even PT may agree with this.

Ken Davey said in an article the other day that The game was in a sorry state and no changes were to be made for next season, followed by a review the following season. If there is no relegation then the teams have a duty to fans and clubs and the game in general to get out on the field and play even if it’s fielding academy lads. This is getting completely out of and and stupid.

Though I’m not bothered if Leigh/Salford get relegated I find the % system crazy.

If Leigh were to go on a run any end up with say 4 wins from 20 (20%) and Salford were to only play 15 but win 3 then Leigh could potentially get relegated on points diff/scored despite having won more games.

Would that be the first time in any sport a team has won more than the team above yet end up relegated.

It’s unlikely yes but it is possible.

I have no idea why they just don’t go with points and points difference.

A team is penalised potentially for fulfilling their fixtures.

For example if us and Leeds end of season both win 10 games but we played 1 more than Leeds and have a better points diff we would end up missing playoff rugby because we fulfilled more fixtures... seems crackers to me.

I was looking at the championship table, Fev have won 10 from 10, 100%. Tolouse have had 2 games called off so are 8 from 8 100% yet they are top and Fev are second because of a slightly better points difference, if its something similar come end of the season Tolouse will go up and if I was a Fev fan I would be far from happy.

Wow thats shocking for a team with 2 more wins. Could you imagine winning 2 more games than a team yet them getting promoted ahead of you or even winning the LLS ahead of you just because they fulfilled less fixtures.

There would be absolute uproar.

Not really Cas's fault, they could have used academy players to fulfil the fixture but had 2 confirmed covid cases resulting in the rest of them having to isolate and making them unavailable, hence not been able to raise a team as academy players don't count on the 7 required.

Excuse and hiding behind the virus I'm afraid. Next time they will raise a team against us and have a good chance of winning what a load of guff. Leeds and Salford should have automatic 0-24 losses now.
Leeds didn't fancy Catalan or STS away wait till we have more players back.

... but do unavailable first team players count? it could be that a large proportion of the Salford 7 were injured or suspended. How many were from the squad named to play? We'll never know.

What about if you don't finish top because you couldn't play as many games as other teams?

That's not "fair" either.

Not sure how it works for first teamers, but academy players don't count and with Cas having to isolate the academy due to 2 cases, they were unable to call on them to make up the numbers for the game which caused the game to be forfeited and not postponed unlike Salford who played the system for their own benefit.