Where are they now? Paul Rowley’s first Salford Red Devils side from 2022

Paul Rowley is preparing to enter his fourth – and final – season as Salford’s head coach, with a transition into a Director of Rugby role coming up at the end of the year.

Before the 2025 campaign gets underway, we’re taking you back to February 2022 and to his first game in charge of the Red Devils away against Castleford Tigers.

Picking up a 26-16 win on the road to kickstart his tenure, here’s a look at where Salford’s side from the Super League Round 1 clash at The Jungle are today…

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Ryan Brierley

There are only a handful of players from this line-up still at Salford today, and at least for the time being, boyhood fan Brierley is one of those.

This was the nine-time Scotland international’s debut for the club following a move from Leigh, and the 32-year-old has now made 77 appearances for the Red Devils in total, taking his game tally at club level above 300.

Ken Sio

Sio joined Salford in 2019, and went on to score 78 tries for the club in 104 appearances. All of those tries came in Super League, making him the Red Devils’ second-highest try-scorer of all-time in the competition. He was named in the Dream Team come the end of 2022.

Now 34, the prolific winger penned a new contract at the end of the 2023 campaign but saw that terminated by mutual consent a few weeks later, needing to return Down Under on compassionate grounds. He has recently linked up with Macarthur Conference Rugby League outfit Campbelltown Collegians for 2025.

Tim Lafai

33-year-old Lafai remains with the Red Devils having joined them ahead of the 2022 season and made his debut in this game. The 18-time Samoa international, born in Savaii, is now into the final year of his contract at the Salford Community Stadium.

Like Sio, the centre was named in the Super League Dream Team at the end of the 2022 campaign. He has scored 22 tries in 67 appearances across all competitions for the Greater Manchester outfit to date.

Deon Cross

Cross, 28, also remains a Salford player – but is another who has attracted interest during this off-season. Making the leap into Super League with the Red Devils as he joined ahead of 2022, the St Helens native grabbed a try on debut in this Round 1 clash.

He’s now approaching the milestone of 200 career appearances having featured once on the international front for England Knights, and needs to play 14 more games to reach 100 in a Salford shirt.

Joe Burgess

Wigan-born Burgess joined Salford in 2021 and went on to score 23 tries in 54 appearances across the three seasons which followed, departing for Hull KR before the start of the 2024 campaign.

The 30-year-old winger, a three-time England international, then scored 18 tries in 23 appearances for the Robins as they reached a maiden Super League Grand Final. KR have already tied him down until the end of 2026.

Brodie Croft

Queenslander Croft linked up with Salford ahead of the 2022 campaign, making the move into Super League from Brisbane Broncos. His debut in this game came at the start of a year which would see him crowned the competition’s Man of Steel.

After that success, the Red Devils tied him down with a bumper long-term deal until 2030, but ahead of the 2024 season, Leeds paid a substantial fee for his services. He then impressed individually in what was an underwhelming season for the Rhinos, and is under contract at Headingley until the end of 2026, though has already had strong interest from the NRL.

Marc Sneyd

Salford youth product Sneyd – now 33 – returned to the club ahead of the 2022 campaign, bringing an end to a long association with Hull FC. In what was his second debut for the Red Devils, he kicked seven goals from seven attempts, a sign of things to come.

Three seasons later, he remains a key part of Rowley’s side, and has scored almost 650 points to take his career tally to within touching distance of 2,500 when including the 44 he grabbed across his two games in an England shirt back in 2022. Last year saw Sneyd named in the Super League Dream Team.

Sitaleki Akauola

Powerhouse Akauola brought an end to a four-season stint at Warrington Wolves when he joined Salford ahead of the 2022 campaign. The one-time Tonga international would spend just a sole season with the Red Devils, scoring two tries in 19 appearances, before moving on to Toulouse Olympique.

Ahead of the 2025 season, the 32-year-old has made a cross-Championship switch and a return to England by joining Featherstone Rovers.

Andy Ackers

Golborne-born Ackers spent three-and-a-half seasons donning a Red Devils shirt in total having joined them midway through 2020 following Toronto Wolfpack’s demise during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Representing England in the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup, the hooker – now 31 – departed Salford ahead of the 2024 campaign, making the move to Leeds alongside team-mate Croft. Having played 25 games for the Rhinos to date, his career appearance tally now sits at 271.

Greg Burke

31-year-old Burke rounded off his Super League career with Salford, first joining them on loan from Widnes Vikings in June 2019 before making that move a permanent one having featured in the Grand Final at the end of that year.

Having had a short loan stint with Championship side Barrow in 2022, he returned to Craven Park permanently ahead of the 2023 campaign and departed at the end of 2024. He is yet to be picked up by a club for 2025, as far as we understand.

Shane Wright

Perth native Wright joined Salford ahead of 2022 from NRL outfit North Queensland Cowboys, who he’d played 41 games for at first-grade level, and remains with the Red Devils today.

Featuring 51 times for Rowley’s side so far, the Australian ace had to endure a long-term injury lay-off due to a broken ankle in 2023, but missed only a handful of games last term and is contracted until the end of the 2026 season.

James Greenwood

33-year-old Greenwood arrived at the Salford Community Stadium in 2020, and made 23 appearances for the club prior to his departure at the end of 2023, adding to the two games he’d played in a Red Devils shirt as a loanee back in 2015.

The veteran forward spent time on loan with both Barrow and Swinton during his time as a Salford player, and linked up with the Raiders on a permanent basis ahead of 2024. He remains up in Cumbria for 2025, currently ten games off the milestone of 200 career appearances.

Elijah Taylor (Captain)

11-time Kiwi international Taylor joined Salford from NRL outfit Wests Tigers ahead of 2021, and come the start of the 2022 campaign, he was handed the captaincy by Rowley.

Now 34, Taylor played 41 games for the Red Devils across the two seasons he spent with the club, and went on to join Championship side Featherstone Rovers in 2023. Moving on to Oldham ahead of the season just gone, he played 17 games and helped the Roughyeds to the League 1 title, so will ply his trade back up in the second tier this year.

Danny Addy (Interchange)

18-time Scotland international Addy – who is expected to hit the milestone of 300 career appearances this year – is another who rounded his time in the top-flight off with Salford, making 41 appearances for the Greater Manchester outfit across three seasons between 2021 and 2023.

Also featuring on loan for Widnes in 2022, the veteran forward – who celebrates his 34th birthday this month – linked up with Featherstone ahead of the 2024 campaign. He remains at Post Office Road for 2025, and has an option for a further one-year extension in his contract.

Sam Luckley (Interchange)

Newcastle native Luckley also represents Scotland via his heritage and has seven caps for the Bravehearts on his CV. He joined Salford from local side Newcastle Thunder ahead of 2021 and made 27 appearances in a two-season stay in Greater Manchester.

The 29-year-old joined Hull KR ahead of 2023, and remains with the Robins today having featured 58 times for them so far, including at Old Trafford in last October’s Grand Final defeat to Wigan.

Matty Costello (Interchange)

St Helens academy product Costello joined Salford in 2021, and made 24 appearances in their colours across all competitions before departing at the end of 2023. This game wasn’t one of those appearances though, as he never got off the bench, going down as an unused interchange.

Now 26, the Billinge-born outside-back made the move to Barrow following his exit from the Red Devils, one of the sides he’d previously represented as a loanee. He remains with the Raiders in the Championship today.

King Vuniyayawa (Interchange)

Nine-time Fiji international Vuniyayawa arrived at Salford from Leeds ahead of 2022, and came off the bench to score a try on his Red Devils debut in this clash.

The 29-year-old, who hails from Lautoka, remains with Salford today and is contracted until the end of the upcoming 2025 campaign. Having played 57 games for the club to date, he was sent on loan to Hull FC towards the end of 2024, but suffered a season-ending injury in just his second game for the Airlie Birds.

Head coach: Paul Rowley

49-year-old Rowley was appointed by Salford in November 2021, taking the helm following the departure of Richard Marshall and ending his own short hiatus from the game in doing so.

The Leigh native has so far guided the Red Devils to the Super League play-offs in two of his three seasons at the helm, and missed out narrowly on the top six in 2023.

As mentioned in the introduction to this feature, come the end of the 2025 campaign, it’s already been announced that he will move upstairs into a Director of Rugby role at the Salford Community Stadium.

By the time current assistant Kurt Haggerty takes the reins, Rowley may well have taken charge of over 300 games as a head coach – including his time as the man in the hotseat at hometown club Leigh and Toronto Wolfpack.

Castleford Tigers’ team from Paul Rowley’s first game in charge of Salford

Starting 13: Niall Evalds, Derrell Olpherts, Mahe Fonua, Jake Mamo, Bureta Faraimo, Jake Trueman, Danny Richardson, George Griffin, Paul McShane, Daniel Smith, Kenny Edwards, Alex Sutcliffe, Joe Westerman

Bench: Liam Watts, George Lawler, Suaia Matagi, Jordan Turner

Head coach: Lee Radford

Tries: Derrell Olpherts (2), George Griffin

Goals: Danny Richardson (2/3)

Sin-Bin: Bureta Faraimo

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