Salford Red Devils opened their 2022 campaign with a 26-16 win over tonight's opponents Castleford at their Jungle ground, and had hopes of repeating that performance tonight.

The visitors had a dreadful start to the season: the loss to Salford started a run which saw them win just one of their opening half-dozen games.

But they overcame that and won five of the following six leading up to this match.

Their hosts have won fewer games, but have shown their ability in every round so far.

And their winger Ken Sio is the top try scorer in Super League at the half-way point of the season.

Ninth faced tenth at the AJ Bell Stadium as the Salford Red Devils played hosts to a Leeds Rhinos side under their new coach, Rohan Smith, for the first time and boasting the return of several first team players after their injury lay-offs as they looked to register their third consecutive victory.

Paul Rowley’s side were looking to spoil the Rhinos party with a win which would lift them above their opponents as the scramble away from the bottom spot continued for both sides, with the bookies struggling to separate the sides, having made the Rhinos slight favourites.

Round Ten of Super League 2022 saw the return of Channel 4 coverage as they set up their cameras at the DW Stadium, home of the Wigan Warriors, for the visit of the Salford Red Devils as the home side looked to return to the top of table on the same points as St Helens.

The biggest news out of Wigan this week was the permanent departure of Zak Hardaker from Matt Peet´s side, but they also came into the game without the services of Sam Powell and Tommy Leuluai.

The Red Devils are also without a host of stars with Tim Lafai, Deon Cross, Shane Wright, Ryan Lannon and notably Marc Sneyd all missing from their side.

The bookies thought that there would only be one winner, giving the Red Devils an eighteen-point start on the coupon.

In the current disciplinary climate, there were as many questions about how many cards there would be, as there was about the outcome of tonight´s Super League match between the Salford Red Devils and the Leeds Rhinos at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The Red Devils made several changes to their line-up after last week’s loss, with Ryan Lannon and Elijah Taylor amongst the additions to the starting line-up, while the Rhinos welcomed back skipper Kruise Leeming and new signing James Bentley after their suspensions In our pre-game Twitter poll 67% of voters believed that it would be the Red Devils who emerged victorious, and the bookies agreed, giving the visitors a two-point start on the handicap coupon.

Castleford Tigers and Salford Red Devils kicked off the Dacia Magic Weekend at St James Park in their fourth encounter of the season.

Before kick-off, the tally stood at two wins to Cast and one to the Reds Could the Tigers make their top-six play-off hopes a little more secure with a third win? Could the original Red Devils level the record and start their own climb up the table from 11th?

Following back to back losses to the Catalans Dragons, the Leeds Rhinos had what looked like, on paper, a simpler fixture as they welcomed strugglers Salford Red Devils to Headingley and a full unrestricted crowd for the first time since the start of the COVID epidemic.

For the Red Devils Ata Hingano was given his debut with a start from the bench while the Rhinos welcomed back King Vuniyayawa and kicker Rhyse Martin but were without the services of Luke Gale, Mikolaj Oledzki and Tom Holroyd.

Neither sides league position would benefit from a win but for both it would increase the buffer over the chasing clubs and for Salford it could be the win that finally secures their safety in Superleague as it would leave the Leigh Centurions requiring five emphatic wins from their remaining games to catch them up.

It was an impressive and strong looking starting line-up for the Salford Red Devils as they welcomed the Wigan Warriors to the AJ Bell Stadium as they looked for their second win of the season against a side so far unbeaten in 2021.

The way things stand in the table, and with this seasons win percentage calculations, neither side could improve their league position as a result of today’s game as the teams kicked off a weekend of six fixtures over Saturday and Sunday, almost unheard of in Super League outside Magic Weekend.

Wigan were nailed on favourites with the bookies, Salford getting a twelve-point start on the handicap coupon.

A place against either the Warrington Wolves, St Helens or Hull FC was up for grabs as the Castleford Tigers took on the Salford Red Devils in the last of the 2021 Betfred Challenge Cup quarter finals at Emerald Headingley.

On paper there was a chasm between the two sides with the Tigers sitting third in Super League with just a single defeat while the Red Devils were third from bottom with just a single victory, but this is the cup and the form guide can be ripped up and thrown away for a one-off fixture with a semi-final place on offer.

The Tigers were strong favourites, especially after winning the Super League match between the two sides a week ago, but after reaching the final last season the Salford side were not just there making up the numbers.

Hull FC provided a convincing and dominant display to take the league points as they kicked off final day of Super League’s second round, at St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium against Salford.

The sides traded set for set in a tentative first 10 minutes before Reds half Kevin Brown tried to open it up with a chip over the Hull defence, who nevertheless had the resulting charge covered.

The Champions were first up as the 2021 Super League season got underway at Emerald Headingley, the opposition were a Salford Red Devils under the management of ex-Saints assistant coach Richard Marshall as a new era began.

Morgan Knowles is ruled out until at least round four but did welcome back Mark Percival.

Salford were without Joe Burgess, out with an ankle injury but had former NRL superstar loose forward Elijah Taylor making his debut.

Saints were massive odds-on favourites with the bookies and you could get a fourteen point start for Salford on the coupon, but after four months (119 days) of off-season, and fundamental coaching changes to the Salford side, it could have been a bit of a lottery.

The dead-rubber to end all dead-rubbers as Wakefield Trinity and the Salford Red Devils did battle to see who would finish this most extraordinary of seasons in ninth place, and who would end it in tenth.

Salford needed a win to overcome the three-win deduction which they suffered earlier in the week and jump ahead of Trinity, while the Dreadnoughts knew that a win would secure them ninth but also that they couldn’t catch the Castleford Tigers in eighth.

The season was effectively over, and the stage was set for a game between two sets of players who were already in an off-season mindset and who would be going out of their way to ensure that they didn’t pick up any injuries.

Both coaches named strong looking squads, but both also admitted to being down to the bare bones of their squads as injuries and coronavirus took their toll.

A late change saw Dan Sarginson replaced with Niall Evalds for Salford after Sarginson picked up an injury in the warm-up.

In this most confusing of seasons, and with Super League teams gathering around the virtual conference table to discuss an early end to the season, the Salford Red Devils and Catalans Dragons were thrown together in a re-arranged round nine game at the AJ Bell Stadium on a wet Monday afternoon.

Salford forfeited their last scheduled game against the Warrington Wolves and were awarded a 24-0 loss and they now took on a Catalans side which has fallen victim to a number of positive coronavirus tests and who have not played a game since the 9^th of October when they beat Hull KR by 34-4.

Win or Lose the Dragons would not change their league position, but a win would make their claim for a play-off place increasingly credible as they moved within two games of the previously required fifteen.

A win for Salford would lift them into the top eight, and the potential of a play-off place depending on the structure changes to be hammered out by the club chairmen.

Fresh from demolishing the Rhinos on Friday night, the reigning Champions and Champions elect took on the Salford Red Devils in what was, on paper, another one-sided encounter on a Monday evening as St Helens and Salford re-enacted last years Grand Final.

Saints retained the services of Alex Walmsley despite him picking up a two match ban for a Grade C dangerous tackle in the Leeds game (his ban not coming into effect until midnight tonight) as  they named a youthful squad including five debutants; Nico Rizzelli, Ben Davies, Jake Wingfield, Tom Nisbet, and Matthew Foster.

Salford had unsettling news in the camp with their coach Ian Watson being widely linked with a potential move to Hull FC but on the field they welcomed back Dan Sarginson who had been self-isolating since before the Challenge Cup final.

It was fantastic to see the name of Salford Red Devils alongside Challenge Cup Final for the first time since 1969, a long, long wait for their faithful fans.

The last time they won the trophy was back in 1938 when the beat Barrow by 7-4, and this was only the seventh occasion that the side from Salford had made it to the showpiece.

By contrast their opponents, the Leeds Rhinos, are experienced old hands at these events.

This was their twenty-sixth Challenge Cup Final appearance, having lifted the trophy on thirteen occasions, the most recent being in 2015.

Leeds have been to the cup final on fifteen occasions since Salford were last there, having lifted the trophy five times.

But this was a one-off game, and despite the odds being stacked in the Rhinos favour, everyone tuning in to watch the game in an empty stadium, knew that Salford could beat any side on their day.

It was just a matter of whether this would be that day.

Londoner Dan Sarginson won the first of this year’s Challenge Cup quarter finals with a golden try in extra time for Salford after their game with Catalan Dragons was tied up at 18-18 on 80 minutes.

 

That put the Red Devils on course for a first Wembley Cup Final since 1938, the only time they won the cup – subject to tomorrow’s semi-final draw, which takes place during the half-time break of the fourth game.

 

It was the Dragons got their first points in early, capitalising on the worst possible start by Salford.

 

There was just six points between the Wigan Warriors and the Salford Red Devils when the two sides met at the same venue just a fortnight ago, in the opening round of the play-offs.

The prize tonight was a trip to Old Trafford next Saturday for the game's flagship event, and a chance at picking up the Super League trophy from the grasp of St Helens.

Adrian Lam juggled his side with Ben Flower and Sean O’Loughlin promoted from the bench to the starting line-up compared to a fortnight ago.

Ian Watson’s Salford made just one change from the last game, with Greg Burke being brought into the seventeen.

Everyone, including the bookies, expected Wigan to make their eleventh Grand Final, and their sixth in the last seven years.

Salford were seeking their first ever appearance at a stadium just five miles over the River Irwell from their base.

Momentum, however, was with the Red Devils.

For either the Salford Red Devils or the Castleford Tigers, tonight would be the end of the 2019 season.

The victors, however, would move on to next weekend and a chance to make the Old Trafford Grand final on the 12th October, in the second semi-final.

Both sides had close play-off games last weekend with contrasting fortunes.

Salford lost out narrowly to the Wigan Warriors, while the Tigers went the Halliwell-Jones and knocked out the Warrington Wolves on their own patch.

This was the third meeting between the two sides in 2019 with honours shared at one win apiece coming into tonights game.

The Red Devils brought in Greg Burke as a change to last week, and the Tigers had two changes with Nathan Massey and Greg Eden coming into the side.

Having never met at the Magic Weekend before the Salford Red Devils and Hull KR were both hoping to register the win and collect the important two points.

A win for the Red Devils would lift them into fifth spot and a play-off place, while a win for KR would leave Leeds and London fighting to avoid bottom spot in the 15:30 kick-off.

The Robins sprung a surprise a fortnight ago when they eliminated Salford from the Challenge Cup but the Red Devils were the victors, by just two points, when the sides met back in February.

The Leeds and London fans inside Anfield were cheering on the Salford side against a Hull side containing six past Rhinos players.

After yesterdays festival of rugby, it was a fitting start to Sundays feast.

When the Salford Red Devils hosted St Helens back in round four at the end of February, the Saints travelled back down the East Lancs Road with the two points after a convincing 26-4 win.

Saints are sitting very prettily at the top of the pile, with points in hand over their rivals, but Salford had a massive incentive in knowing that a win could lift them as high as third, thanks to their superior points difference.

Saints were without a number of key players including James Roby and Danny Richardson and despite Salford being underdogs, they must have travelled to the Totally Wicked Stadium with hope that they could upset the odds.

The Catalans Dragons had the perfect opportunity to build on the success of last weekends win over the Warrington Wolves as the Salford Red Devils paid a visit to the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Salford, on the other hand, needed a confidence boost after a painful defeat at the hands of front-runners St Helens.

A home win would push the Dragons above Salford into fifth spot but the Red Devils knew that if they could secure the points then they’d be into the top four, stepping ahead of Hull FC in the league ladder.

Fifth played seventh as both sides looked to boost their league position.