Salford City Reds forward Andrew Dixon has defended head coach Brian Noble ahead of Saturday’s trip to London Broncos, calling on the players to raise their games.
The 23-year-old became Salford’s first signing for the 2013 season, arriving from St Helens after agreeing a three-year deal last November.
And after seeing Salford swept aside by his former club last weekend Dixon is adamant his coach is not to blame.
“Brian’s a good coach with a lot of good systems so we’ve just got to stick to them,” he told MM.
“It’s us not sticking to those systems that loses us matches, rather than the systems not working. If we just do what we’re told we should get there in the end.
“He’s brought a lot of motivation and enthusiasm to the team, and freshened things up a lot – the score-lines haven’t really reflected that but that’s the fault of us as the players.
“We’ve got to pick that up because we’re not showing what he is putting into training, and hopefully put in a performance for him and the coaching staff.”
The Reds are yet to win outside of Manchester this season and travel down to Twickenham having shipped 166 points in their last three games.
But the club received a significant boost ahead of next season with the news that Salford-born Warrington Wolves captain Adrian Morley will join the ranks at Barton for 2014.
The former Leeds Rhinos and Sydney Roosters forward is the most-capped player in the history of British rugby league.
And despite the Reds seeing a previous offer for him turned down in March, Morley admits it will be a dream to finally play for his hometown club
“I’m a Salford lad and I used to support them as a kid,” he told BBC Radio Manchester.
“I thought I’d never get the opportunity, but I’ve played on longer than I thought I would. It will be fantastic to finish my career there.
“The offer was always appealing because it was Salford, but even more so now they’ve got Dr Koukash there, some stability and the new stadium.”
The announcement comes just 24 hours after the Reds confirmed the capture of Melbourne Storm’s Kiwi centre Junior Sa’u, with another six high-profile arrivals expected before the end of the year.
Picture courtesy of Mortonstalker via WikiCommons, with thanks.
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