Magic Weekend Huddersfield v Salford preview
A long suffering Salford supporter said to me on Sunday evening that the win at Warrington was even better than the seventy four point battering of Wakefield. Some may say how is that possible but I knew exactly what he meant.
Sunday’s victory had everything, a very dominant opening, a touch of adversity being reduced to twelve men and then a magnificent show of character to fight back from 24-8 points down with only twenty five minutes left. The players showed resilience and composure. It was heart warming to see the happy faces of the Salford supporters at the final whistle and the moment the players and staff huddled on the pitch. Team spirit and togetherness can’t be bought by money. It has to be nurtured from within, earned and worked for. Success in sport doesn’t come easy. It’s not all champagne and skittles.
Salford go into the Magic Weekend full of confidence. We may be struggling with numbers at the moment but the players seem in a very good place mentally. Some of the attacking rugby on show in the last two match’s has been outstanding. It was great to see Jack Ormondroyd score two decisive tries at Warrington. The big forward has impressed me more and more in recent weeks and he has to be in with a shout of a World Cup place if he can maintain that standard of performance. Tyler Dupree put in a fine display too. His offload is catching teams out and he is also doing plenty of work in defence and attack.
Rhys Williams replaced Joe Burgess at the weekend and the Welshman scored a really well taken try to add to a faultless eighty minutes. Brodie Croft again caught the eye and Chris Atkin came off the bench to add another dimension and his impact definitely put Salford back on the front foot.
Huddersfield were on a fine run of form with six league wins on the bounce stretching back to April. The Giants were beaten comprehensively at Castleford last Friday though with the Tigers making them look pretty vulnerable at times.
Their is no doubt Huddersfield will start favourites for this match and they’ve already beaten Salford comfortably this season 34-2 at the John Smith’s Stadium. The Magic Weekend however can throw up some exciting and unpredictable results and Paul Rowley will no doubt have a game plan in mind.
The same can be said about Giants boss Ian Watson who knows many of the Salford players from his time at the club. Watson and Rowley worked together at Salford really well and it’s great to see to young English Coaches doing well in the Super League.
Magic Weekend record.
Won 4
Draws 0
Lost 9
2007, Salford 18 Warrington 50 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
2009, Salford 16 Harlequins 24 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
2010, Salford 16 Warrington 68 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
2011, Salford 12 Celtic Crusaders 42 millennium stadium, Cardiff
2012, Salford 38 Huddersfield 34 Etihad Stadium, Manchester
2013, Salford 28 Widnes 22 Etihad Stadium, Manchester
2014, Salford 24 Widnes 30 Etihad Stadium, Manchester
2015, Salford 16 Widnes 38 St James’ Park, Newcastle
2016, Salford 18 Widnes 12 St James’ Park, Newcastle
2017, Salford 36 Leigh 22 St James’ Park, Newcastle
2018, Salford 12 Catalans Dragons 26 St James’Park, Newcastle
2019, Salford 20 Hull Kingston Rovers 22 Anfield, Liverpool.
2021, Salford 18 Castleford 29, St James’ Park, Newcastle.
They played for both.
Here are a selection of players who have played for both clubs;
Steve Kerry, Danny Arnold, Greg Austin, David Bradbury, Jodie Broughton, Ryan Clayton, Gavin Clinch, Greg Eden, Simon Finnigan, Matt Gardner, Lee Gaskell, Martin Gleeson, Bobbie Goulding, Darrel Griffin, Josh Griffin, Neil Harmon, David Hodgson, Graham Holroyd, Andy Johnson, Phil Joseph, Craig Kopzack, Michael korkidas, Tommy Lee, Martin Moana, Chris Nero, Robbie Paul, Luke Robinson, Jordan Turner, Adam Walne, Paul White,Stephen Wild, Luke Yates, Theo Fages, Josh Jones and Tui Lolohea.
A match to remember Sunday 27th May 2012.
Salford 38 Huddersfield 34.
After four straight miserable defeats at Magic this was a day to remember for Salford and their supporters. Long trips to Edinburgh and Cardiff had been huge let downs with heavy defeats. This match in 2012 was played a little closer to home at The Etihad Stadium, the home of Manchester City.
It was a lovely, warm and sunny afternoon with glorious temperatures, particularly at pitch side.
Salford had gone six matches without a victory and went in to the match as under dogs. The Giants were a big, athletic team with plenty of power and pace in the backs. With talisman Danny Brough guiding them Huddersfield were a tough team to beat.
Salford made the early running and Australian centre Joel Moon made that pressure count when he touched down following Jodie Broughton’s unorthodox palm back of the ball.
Kevin Brown and Luke George responded with tries for The Giants.
Salford then worked the ball from right to left through the halves and Luke Patten slipped the ball to Moon unopposed for his second score.
The Reds extended the lead with a nice try from centre Sean Gleason.
Speedster Broughton squeezed in for another Salford try just before the break to send Phil Veivers side in leading 16-22 at half time.
Leroy Cudjoe had a try chalked off by referee Tim Roby but this only seem to hand the momentum to Huddersfield. Two tries from the enormous Eorl Crabtree edged the Yorkshire side in to the lead.
Salford kept persevering and were rewarded with a try for their honest endeavour when Moon maintained his balance under pressure and offloaded to Broughton who raced in for his second to bring the scores within two as Holdsworth fluffed his conversion attempt.
Adam Sidlow powered over from a neat Stuart Howarth which saw the lead change hands in to Salford’s favour again.
Huddersfield yet again showed their quality when a dummy half break from Jason Chan put Brough in under the posts and he stepped up to convert.
It was end to end nail biting action. The match balanced on a knife edge.
Salford’s seventh try restored the lead yet again. Sidlow, who crossed for a second time to again open up the four-point gap with three minutes to play.
The big forward smashing his way to the line showing tremendous strength.
The Giants spurned late chances with Salford hanging on to win a super match 38-34.
The teams that day;
Huddersfield: Eden, McGillvary, Cudjoe, Wardle, George, Grix, Brough, Mason, Moore, Ferguson, Lawrence, Chan, Brown.
Replacements: Crabtree, Robinson, Fa’alogo, Faiumu.
Salford: Patten, Broughton, Moon, Gleeson, Williams, Holdsworth, Smith, Jewitt, Howarth, Sidlow, Ashurst, Nero, Wild.
Replacements: Owen, Anderson, Paleaaesina, McPherson.
Referee: Tim Roby
Sunday’s match.
This match will kick off day two of the Magic Weekend. Wigan play St Helens and their is a Hull derby as well as the bottom two Toulouse and Wakefield clashing. Salford v Huddersfield might not be two local teams but their is plenty on this game. The Giants have plenty of ex Salford players in their ranks and we’ve already mentioned the Watson and Rowley link.
The weather in Newcastle looks warm and sunny on the forecast for Sunday and the pitch at St James’ Park is a big one. It’s tailor made for attacking and expansive rugby league and this match could be the tie of the weekend.
Like Salford the Giants have scores plenty of points this season but they can also do the tough stuff in defence. Looking back at the Challenge Cup final a few weeks ago Huddersfield were the better side for large parts of the match. In the end it was probably their conservative approach that cost them. I am not a coach but I expect the Giants to throw the kitchen sink at Salford in the early exchanges on Sunday. The Red Devils will need to muscle up and weather the storm. On the back of that Salford are capable of scoring the points needed to win this match.
This weekend will see all twelve Super League teams play at St James’ Park the iconic home of Newcastle United Football Club. The Magic Weekend might not be everybody’s cup of tea but one thing it does do is to allow all teams to play on the big stage. For those sides that don’t often make big showpiece finals this is their day to shine. It’s also a great day out for supporters.
Newcastle is a very vibrant City with lots going on for those who want to make a weekend of it. It’s also a pretty buzzing place after dark too. The matches on day one look really exciting with Wakefield v Toulouse, Wigan v St.Helens and Leeds v Castleford. Sunday’s fixtures are Huddersfield v Salford, Catalans v Warrington and Hull v Hull Kingston Rovers.
The action for Salford gets under way at 1pm.
Safe travels and enjoy the match.
Paul Whiteside.
Big thanks to Steve McCormick for the photos.
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