The Super Eights Qualifiers were occupying centre stage in the final weekend of the competition with everything on the line for six sides, all of whom were seeking the guarantee of Super League football in 2019, but all of whom could slip into the Million Pound Game or in five cases, finish the season in sixth place.

With four games over four days the picture would gradually become clearer as the permutations reduced.

The opening game of the weekend was the Salford Red Devils hosting Toulouse Olympique XIII at the AJ Bell Stadium.

A win for the Red Devils would guarantee them safety, but a win for Toulouse could spell disaster for Salford and propel Toulouse into the crucial top three positions.

It promised to be a nervous night at the start of a nail biting weekend.

Salford all but secured their Super League place with victory over  Toronto Wolfpack – but the win came at a price with talismanic half-back Jackson Hastings likely to miss a number of games, not least next week’s visit to Leeds, after a late red card.

The opening 40 minutes belongs almost exclusively to the hosts.

Toronto offered no threat and on the few occasions when they did finish a set in their opponents’ 20, it inevitably petered out.

After losing to London last week, Widnes travelled to Salford needing a win to keep their hopes of playing Super League in 2019 alive.

And for a brief moment, it looked like they might secure the points.

With just two minutes gone, Charly Runciman went over in the corner after the Chemics kick to end their first set beat Ed Chamberlain – who spent most of this season in a Widnes shirt.

Former Catalans player Krisnan Inu converted and at 6-0 the visitors looked good to kick-on and make a competitive game of it.

Two sides, still with an outside chance of avoiding the middle eights, met at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford as the Red Devils took on a Widnes Vikings side under the new control of Francis Cummins.

A convincing win for Salford would see them up to ninth and snapping at the heels of eighth placed Huddersfield Giants and a win for the Vikings would lift them off the bottom and over Hull KR into eleventh.

Salford gave debuts to on-loan Greg Burke and Ed Chamberlain against their parent club while the Vikings also played their loan signing from Salford, Weller Hauraki.

The bookies fancied a Salford win but the Vikings were determined to pick up their first away win of the season.

The opening Sunday encounter of the Magic Weekend threw together the Salford Red Devils and the Catalans Dragons.

The Red Devils were hoping to cement their top eight spot with a win, over a Catalans side which could lift themselves off the bottom and into ninth, until the sides above them play later in the afternoon.

Salford won the previous encounters including a 32-16 win in March.

The bookmakers were struggling to pick between the two sides but had made Salford the slight favourites as the crowds flooded back in to St James’ Park for the second day of this years jamboree.

One of the most intrigueing ties of the sixth round draw threw together near neighbours Leigh Centurions and the Salford Red Devils for a game at the Leigh Sports Village as one of the top sides in the Championship went head to head with a side still looking for Super League consistency.

Eight league places separated the two sides but Salford came into the game in the full knowledge that there was plenty of Super League experience in the Centurions side and that the home crowd would be baying for the blood of their rivals from ten miles down the A580.

The bookies fancied an away win but not by much and the cameras of SKY were there to witness the unfolding excitement with Leigh hoping to extend their nine match winning run.

Salford Red Devils were seeking a third consecutive victory as they placed to the league leaders St Helens in the Thursday night televised clas in round thirteen of Super League.

The pundits and the bookies all pointed to a Saints win and a tough night at the office for the Devils at the AJ Bell Stadium.

After a stunning win over Wakefield Trinity last time out the home side had Jake Shorrocks in for the injured Rob Lui, Lee Mossop replacing Ben Nakumuwai in the front row and Lama Tasi on the bench.

Saints put sixty-six points on the Giants last weekend and welcomed back Mark Percival and Zeb Taia.

The neutrals were hoping for a close game.

Today, not just the badge on the shirt changes but the whole ethos of what this famous old club is about.



Steeped in tradition and revered in history, the Red Devils has become one of the most talked about teams in the game and going forward from today the Club will embrace the ethic and attitude of this magnificent city of Salford.

There were two charges and a caution to come out of the weekends Ladbroke’s Challenge Cup semi-finals, and both were from the hard fought game between the Wigan Warriors and Salford Red Devils.



Wigan’s Sam Powell was charged, and Frank-Paul Nuuausala received a caution, while Salford’s Lama Tasi also found himself with a charge from the Red Hall disciplinary committee.

Salford Red Devils are hoping to unleash Manu Vatuvei on Wigan Warriors in their Ladbrokes Challenge Cup semi-final.



Vatuvei currently plays for the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League.

A New Zealand national representative winger, he has played his entire NRL career to date with the Warriors.

Vatuvei was a member of the New Zealand side that won the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.

He became the Warriors' highest try scorer and averages over 10 tries per season.

The quarter finals of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup got underway at the A.

J.

Bell Stadium where Salford Red Devils hosted Wakefield Trinity in a top of the table clash which had the bookies and pundits guessing.



The Red Devils had the home advantage but there are only two Super League points separating them in second place and fifth placed Wakefield Trinity, both sides having excellent seasons.



Despite the Red Devils being the slight favourites, Trinity won 24-22 at home in March and picked up a 34-24 win at the A.

J.

Bell a fortnight ago giving Salford with two reasons for Challenge Cup revenge.

When the draw was made for the fifth round of the 2017 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup there was one outstanding fixture.

The all conquering Toronto Wolfpack from Championship One were draw away at high-flying Super League Salford Red Devils.



It would be a chance for the games newest side to test their mettle against one of its most established and all eyes were on the AJ Bell Stadium to see what would happen.



The Red Devils were without Junior Sa'u, Logan Tomkins and Todd Carney while Toronto gave a debut to surprise mid-week acquisition Ryan Brierley.

The culmination to the 2016 season for Hull KR and Salford Red Devils would see one of the sides relegated to the Championship while the other would take their place in Super League for 2017.



There is no denying that the 'Million Pound Game' concept is cruel to one, and come five o'clock would be devastating to one of these sides, but it brings unrivalled and unparalleled excitement to the seasons end.



Eighty-one minutes would ultimately determine who would be smiling and who would be shedding tears.

It was simply a 'must win' game for both Salford Red Devils and London Broncos as they met in the Saturday afternoon Super Eights Qualifier at the A.

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Bell Stadium.



A fifty-seven point win would see the Red Devils up into third spot ahead of tomorrow's games.

This would see them in the final automatic promotion berth, but a loss would see them odds on for the Million Pound Game.



Anything but a win for the Broncos would signal the end of their promotion hopes and would rule them out of the Million Pound game.

A big win for Saints, and a big loss for Salford, in last weeks opening round of Super League XXI suggested that tonight's game at the A J Bell Stadium was a foregone conclusion.

Saints are second favourites to end the season top of the pile, but only Wakefield are less favoured by the bookies than the Red Devils.



Kieran Cunninghams' Saints were without the services of Roby, Lomax and Burns, and with The Red Devils coach Ian Watson the latest to be in the Marwan Koukash firing line, he'd have been hoping his side could capitalise and show a vast improvement over last weeks losing performance at the KC Stadium.



But few people were prepared for what they were about to witness.

With an extra weekend to prepare, and backed by a larger than average home crowd thanks to reduced entry prices, everything was in place for a Red Devils win to lift them into the top eight ahead of the Magic Weekend.



Tomy Smith and his Warrington Wolves had different ideas, and following the midweek departure of Micky Higham, they had Daryl Clark at hooker and welcomed the influential Stefan Ratchford back to the ranks after he missed out on last weeks cup win over the Dewsbury Rams.

The ubiquitous Marwan Koukash has deliberately strengthened the player roster at Salford in the glare of the media spotlight.

His constant quest for column inches has kept Salford Red Devils and Rugby League in the red top headlines, but is his hand-built side already overrated?

We have seen a number of high profile signings arrive at Salford over the last few months including Rangi Chase, Adrian Morley and Gareth Hock.

The key question at this juncture is how good a squad do they have in the context of the rest of Superleague?

Re-branded Super League outfit Salford Red Devils have donated three sets of kit to European nations Serbia, Ukraine and Latvia as part of their commitment to help spread the sport.

A late try from Jordan James helped Salford to a 28-22 win over Widnes to climb off the foot of the table.



Widnes scrum-half, Joe Mellor had already recorded a hatrick but it ultimately led to nothing after James powered over two minutes from time.

Salford City Reds survived a late scare as they held out for a 34-30 victory under new coach Brian Noble against the Castleford Tigers in an entertaining fixture at the Salford City Stadium.



The Reds took a 16-14 lead into half time with tries from Matty Ashurst, Danny Williams and Andrew Dixon against tries for Castleford from Nathan Massey, Justin Carney and Adam Milner.