Salford Red Devils injury news: Key man fails HIA as coach provides an update on Brodie Croft

Salford Red Devils have been dealt a blow after star man Ryan Brierley failed a head injury assessment in their defeat to Wigan.

The Scotland international left the field in the first half of their 26-6 defeat to Wigan on Sunday for a head injury assessment and didn’t return after failing his HIA.

As a result, the 11-day return to play concussion protocol automatically rules him out of Friday’s trip to Wakefield.

Speaking after the game, Paul Rowley said: “Obviously you don’t want to lose someone like Ryan or any full-back but we covered it pretty well.

“Ken Sio did a great job there and (Matty) Costello came on the edge. Ryan was nursing an injury anyway, that’s why we had Costello on the bench but it wasn’t the turning point of the game.

“He failed (his HIA) so that’s two games missing now because we’ve got a Sunday to Friday turnaround so he’ll miss two games.”

Thanks for all the messages. All should be ok. Big wrap to everyone at the club and @WiganWarriorsRL for breaking the attendance record, hopefully we can get many more days like that. Boys doing it tough at the moment and that noise can definitely help us 👌 @SalfordDevils

— Ryan Brierley (@RyanBrierley) June 25, 2023

Salford Red Devils coach provides injury update on Brodie Croft

Reigning Man of Steel didn’t feature in their defeat to Wigan on Sunday due to a hand injury, and is unlikely to be available this week.

“Don’t think so,” said Rowley when asked if Croft would be fit to face Wakefield.

“He’s just got a hand injury so we’ve just got to treat it right. It is so tempting to risk players when you are down on numbers but it would be detrimental for the rest of the season so we just have to make sure when he’s fit, he’ll play.”

England international hooker Andy Ackers hasn’t played since May 28 after suffering multiple head knocks in a short period of time.

Rowley says that Ackers is absolutely symptom free and feeling good, but protocol will see him miss the Wakefield game by around 17 hours. He would be available to play after this weekend.

Paul Rowley: The better team won

The Warriors led 8-6 at the break thanks to first half tries from Joe Shorrocks and Liam Farrell, with Ben Hellewell scoring his first try for Salford.

And Wigan then scored 18 unanswered points in the second half to clinch a strong 26-6 win, with second half tries coming from Abbas Miski, Liam Marshall and Farrell.

Speaking after the game, Rowley said: “I thought it was a good game, the first half in particular.

“I thought the last tackle plays in good ball territory was the difference between the two sides.

“They turned the ball over on their terms more than us and that provided them with a lot of possession and territory.

“It was all to play for at half-time and in the second half Wigan came out very direct.

“I thought there were moments were both teams looked vulnerable and tired but Wigan played direct and won the ruck with the ball and we couldn’t win the ruck with the ball so the second half had a big say on the outcome of the game.

“Credit to Wigan, they’ve been in those situations many times with an arm wrestle and who blinks first and they came through it better than us which resulted in a good win. Credit to them and there are lessons for us, as always.”

The atmosphere was bouncing from both sets of supporters, with the Red Devils announcing a 7,854 attendance – a club record whilst at the Salford Stadium.

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