Ian Watson is keen to point out that his Salford side are arguably the most talented the club have had for a decade, with the Red Devils in the qualifiers this year only as a consequence of the six-point deduction handed to them for breaching the salary cap two years ago.
Salford play with vigour and flair aplenty in attack and were far too good for Huddersfield here, to take what felt like a significant step towards Super League survival, even in these embryonic stages of the Qualifiers.
“We tried to keep things low-key but you could sense in the buildup to the game this was a big one to chalk off,” Watson said. “You could sense a bit of nervousness before but it’s great to get going with a victory when it matters.”
Huddersfield’s future will become much clearer in the coming weeks – they now face all four Championship sides in consecutive games – but this was a far from ideal start for them and a further indicator of the size of the task their new coach, Rick Stone, has inherited.
A brief second-half flurry aside, the Giants were lifeless in attack and the quartet of second-tier sides may now see them as the side to chase down in the hunt for promotion.
Stone said: “There’s now pressure when we play Featherstone next week. We’re struggling, there’s no doubt. There’s some mental fragility in there and there’s some old habits in there we’ve got to change, but they don’t change overnight.”
The star for Salford was the wing Mason Caton-Brown, who scored his second hat‑trick in three games to play a crucial role in the Red Devils’ victory. The former London youngster had been sidelined for much of 2016 due to injury but he showed his worth here. All his tries were exceptional, the first coming inside the opening 15 minutes as part of the early flurry which put Salford 14-0 up.
Huddersfield wasted several opportunities as half-time drew close, and Salford punished them with yet more impressive attacking play to allow Weller Hauraki to score, with Gareth O’Brien converting to make it 20-0 at the interval.
Two tries in three minutes from Nathan Mason and Oliver Roberts represented the best Huddersfield could do and by then Ben Murdoch-Masila had scored Salford’s fourth try, which always seemed crucial on the balance of play.
With the Giants spurning further opportunities late on it was Salford once again who showed their opponents how to be ruthless when it mattered, with Caton‑Brown’s second and third, both of the highest quality, securing victory for the hosts, who now have an eagerly anticipated meeting with Leigh on Saturday.
Salford O’Brien; Carney, J Griffin, Sa’u, Caton-Brown; Lui, Dobson; Kopczak, Tomkins, G Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Mateo, Flanagan. Interchange Hauraki, Krasniqi, Kenny, Burgess.
Tries G Griffin, Caton-Brown 3, Hauraki, Murdoch-Masila. Goals O’Brien 5.
Huddersfield Grix; Ormsby, Cudjoe, Connor, Murphy; Brough, Ellis; Rapira, Hinchcliffe, Huby, Ta’ai, Lawrence, Ikahihifo. Interchange Wood, Roberts, Crabtree, Mason.
Tries Mason, Roberts. Goals Brough 2.
Referee J Child. Attendance 2,184.
