Salford Red Devils player ratings with 5s and 6s aplenty in Leigh Leopards defeat

Salford Red Devils suffered a blow to their play-off hopes with a 26-0 defeat to neighbours Leigh Leopards at Magic Weekend.

Paul Rowley’s side still remain in a decent position to make the top six come the end of the season, though. The Red Devils currently occupy the sixth and final play-off spot: level on points with Catalans Dragons and St Helens who sit just above them in the league table via points difference, with five games of the regular season remaining.

Here are the Salford player ratings from the press box at Elland Road – with 4s and 5s aplenty, with a sprinkling of 6s..

Ryan Brierley – 5

The Scotland international played around an hour before being replaced by Chris Hankinson. We’ve seen better performances from Brierley this season but he was pretty solid on both sides of the ball.

Ethan Ryan – 5

The Ireland international was sin-binned for a high tackle on Leigh centre Ricky Leutele 12 minutes in: but apart from that, he played well. He was comfortable under the high ball and made plenty of carries.

Nene Macdonald – 5

Papua New Guinea international Macdonald has been one of Salford’s best players in 2024: but Leigh did a good job of containing the powerful centre and didn’t allow him too much time to move and take those big strides.

Tim Lafai – 5

It was a mixed display from the Samoa international, who knocked on nine minutes in but then had an effort chalked off by the video referee and produced a massive shot on Leigh’s Darnell McIntosh in the second half. He proved a handful with the ball in hand.

Deon Cross – 6

The St Helens-born winger was lively on the edge for Rowley’s side and put in a mammoth effort with his carries out of backfield.

Jayden Nikorima – 5

Nikorima showed glimpses of what he is capable of but Leigh’s defence didn’t really allow Salford’s halfbacks to move the ball much. Nikorima had a couple of half breaks, but it wasn’t to be on the day for the Red Devils.

Marc Sneyd – 5

It wasn’t the most influential game we’ve seen from Sneyd this year. A couple of his kicks helped Salford pin Leigh back a couple of times, and when he watches the review back, he will probably be disappointed with his effort which saw Umyla Hanley score from his break in the 22nd minute.

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Shane Wright – 6

You know what you’re getting with Wright. He is a grafter and graft is what he did against the Leopards. He didn’t do anything flashy, but got through a lot of work in defence.

Joe Mellor – 5

Mellor came on and got a couple of quick rucks going: and was pretty solid overall, but like we’ve mentioned a few times with some of the other players, it wasn’t his most influential display.

Brad Singleton – 5

The Cumbrian prop was sin-binned for a high shot on Leigh halfback in the 17th minute and played slightly less minutes than what we’re used to seeing from him.

Sam Stone – 4

The Malta international is having a good year with the Red Devils: and he came off for a HIA, but he did return to action. He had a couple of strong carries.

Kallum Watkins – 6

The Salford skipper got involved in plenty of work on and off the ball. He made 10 carries and 43 tackles against the Leopards.

Ollie Partington  – 6

Although he conceded a few penalties, it was a massive effort from Partington, who made a staggering 44 tackles to go alongside 18 carries.

Joe Shorrocks (sub) – 6

A bit like Wright, Shorrocks is an absolute grafter and the beautiful thing about him is that you can literally play him anywhere.

Chris Hankinson (sub) – 6

Hankinson came on and added zip to Salford’s attack, but the most notable thing he did in the final quarter was come up with a try-saver on Gareth O’Brien which denied Leigh a try.

Loghan Lewis (sub) – 5

Lewis has proven to be quite the pick up for Salford. He gets involved and puts his hand up to do the tough stuff.

Joe Bullock (sub) – 4

It was a quieter display from Bullock than what we’ve seen in recent weeks, making just three carries. But he was strong in defence, making 17 tackles.

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