Salford City Reds must learn from Warrington Wolves if they are to be competitive in Super League, says head coach Brian Noble ahead of their Wakefield Wildcats clash.
The Reds face the Wildcats tonight in Barton looking to bounce back after the Wolves handed them their heaviest defeat of the season at the Halliwell Jones stadium last weekend.
Former Salford stars Stefan Ratchford and Richie Myler were influential in that game, as they have been all season, which Noble believes highlights the need for a good recruitment policy.
“It does emphasise the need for correct recruitment,” he said. “If you take the Warrington lesson, you have to recruit the right people for the right job going forward.
“However, in the short term, our job is to get the current group a little bit better than they were last time out.
“We took some strides against Widnes and then went backwards in a lot of respects – it’s the snapshot of where we are at.”
Warrington followed their thrashing of Salford with an 82-10 rout of London Broncos and Noble feels they must replicate this level of execution to become a force to be reckoned with.
“The execution and skill of Warrington is pleasing when they play like that and that has got to be our goal and our standard,” he added.
“When you give the ball away as much as we did against them, it makes it a tough day at the office. But nobody has lost heart, nobody has lost shape and it’s important we respond.”
One player who has impressed for the Reds in recent weeks is teenage French sensation Theo Fages, so much so he has earned himself a call-up to the national side.
Wakefield and part-time France head coach Richard Agar will use tonight’s game to cast a close eye over the 19-year-old scrum-half as he looks to whittle down his provisional 40-man squad.
“I think he’s really improved during the course of the year,” he told Sky Sports. “He’s a very tough, brave little player and he’s developed his understanding of the game.
“For him to leave home at such a young age to go and live in Manchester and test himself in Super League shows he’s got some courage and you can see from the way he plays.”
Salford squad to face Wakefield: J Broughton, A Gibson, M Gleeson, L Gaskell, L Foran, M Ashurst, A Dixon, S Wild, W Godwin, V Mauro, J James, D Williams, T Fages, M Sneyd, R McGoldrick, S McPherson, D Griffin, A Walne, J Emmitt
Image courtesy of Super League TV, via YouTube, with thanks
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