The extraordinary 85-YEAR record Salford Red Devils could break in St Helens clash
Deon Cross celebrates a try for Salford Red Devils against St Helens in 2024
If Salford Red Devils can pull off a second upset of 2024 away against St Helens on Thursday night, it would see them beat Saints three times in a single campaign for the first time in over 85 years!
Having squared off in pre-season, Paul Rowley’s side have already got the better of the Red V in two competitive meetings in 2024.
They were first 24-20 victors at the Totally Wicked Stadium against Paul Wellens’ side in Round 4 following a second half red card for Saints stalwart Mark Percival.
And the Red Devils then ran out 20-18 winners on home soil in Round 15.
Just under six weeks on from that clash at the Salford Community Stadium, the two clubs go head to head for a third time this season in Super League live in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Thursday night.
Making the trip across to Merseyside in Round 21, the Greater Manchester outfit have the chance to break a club record which has stood for 85 years!
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The last time Salford beat Saints three times in a single campaign came way back in the 1938/39 Northern Rugby Football League season. And remarkably, those three victories came in just a four-week period in ’39.
Under the tutelage of rugby league legend Lance Todd, Salford picked up a comfortable 37-0 victory at The Willows on January 14, and then won 32-5 on their travels at Knowsley Road in the reverse league fixture seven days later.
And having done the double in the league, the trio of wins against Saints was completed on February 4 back at The Willows with an 11-0 win in the First Round of the Challenge Cup.
Notably, while Rowley’s Red Devils could break that 85-year record as a collective on Thursday night, flier Deon Cross could emulate the legend that is Gus Risman.
Just as Risman did in 1939, Cross has scored a brace in both of Salford’s first two wins against Saints this calendar year – crossing twice at the Totally Wicked Stadium in March and then twice again at the Salford Community Stadium in June.
Risman also grabbed one of Salford’s three tries in that 11-0 Challenge Cup victory – when you were awarded three points for crossing the whitewash as opposed to the four you get now.
Accordingly, if Cross gets on the scoresheet on Thursday night and the Red Devils win, he’ll have followed in the footsteps of Risman, a certified club legend.
It’s worth noting that in the 1938/39 campaign, Salford – who played a total of 50 games across all competitions – were crowned champions.
After finishing top of the tree, two points ahead of 2nd-placed Castleford, they then beat Huddersfield in the semi-finals of the Championship (play-offs) before seeing off Cas in the competition’s showpiece, 8-6 victors at Maine Road on May 13.
Seven days prior to that Championship final triumph, Todd’s side had been beaten Challenge Cup finalists, losing out at Wembley to Halifax, who beat them 20-3 on the day.
