Ian Watson pleased with Salford’s mentality after “must-win” Toronto clash

James Messenger 08 Feb 2020 5:29 PM

Salford head coach Ian Watson says he is delighted with his side’s mentality after they left it late to secure their first win of the Super League season at the expense of Toronto.

The two sides were level at 16-16 going into the final 10 minutes, but tries from Dan Sarginson and Niall Evalds in the final seven minutes ensured 2019’s beaten grand finalists picked up their points of 2020.

The Red Devils were beaten heavily in their opening game of the season, but bounced back superbly against stubborn Canadian opposition.

“It was a must-win game for us. I know it’s only game two, but we’re a new group and we’re still figuring out how we play together.

“The mentality of the boys was to try and stick with the processes this week and build on the early parts of the game against St Helens.

“What we found last week was once we got away from [those processes], we got taught a lesson by Saints.

“It was about learning those lessons from game one, and I think we’ve done that. We can be more confident now going into our next game against Huddersfield.

“It got a bit nervy towards the end, but it’s a really good win for us.”

For Toronto, it is now two defeats from two to start their first ever season in the top flight.

Gary Wheeler (2) and Brad Singleton both crossed for their first tries of 2020, but is was not enough to prevent the Wolfpack from suffering back-to-back defeats.

Despite the result, Watson insists they will cause teams several headaches once they get up to full speed.

“Toronto are playing with confidence. They throw the ball around and challenge you a lot.

“I think they’ll cause a few teams problems [this year].”