Salford v Doncaster.
Well last Sunday was a really enjoyable away trip. Despite the tough times facing North Wales Crusaders there is definitely a future for rugby league in that region. It’s go so many positives, a really nice stadium with plenty of parking. Colwyn Bay is a really nice place for a day out or even a weekend. I really wish them all the best and it’s great to see Mike Grady back having been given the coaching job there. It’s a long road back but as we are starting to prove at Salford things can get better slowly but surely.
I think back to the start of the season and travelling down to London to face Hammersmith. I didn’t really have a clue how the result would finish up. We had a team full of new faces and nobody really knew how things would turn out. Fast forward five or six months and we now have a team that’s making steady progress. Some players have now made over a dozen appearances for the club and have settled in really well.
We’ve met Doncaster twice this season away from home and been thumped out of sight on both occasions. I am confident that this Sunday we can really show how much we have improved. Resilience in defence is going to be key but I also think we are now capable of creating chances and scoring tries. I’ve been really impressed with Toby Hughes in recent weeks the young half back is growing in confidence every week. Ollie Garmston for me has been a real stand out signing too. Despite his young years the lad has a real edge to him. Moving to centre has added so much to his game in recent weeks and his ability to offload in the tackle and put his winger away is really paying dividends.
Shaun Costello is another player I’d like to give a special mention to. He’s a bit of an unsung hero in the pack but I’ve been very impressed with him and some of the work he did at Halifax definitely kept us in contention in that thrilling match.
Our opponents Doncaster started the season in fantastic form but results have gone against them in recent weeks. Since the 1895 cup meeting in April when they beat us 64-0 they haven’t won. They’ve lost four games on the trot, two of those matches were against London Broncos but their mid week home defeat against Barrow at the end of May was a bit of a surprise score. Doncaster are a very big and physical team as we know from the previous meetings so far but with Salford’s spine looking a little more settled and the addition of Kieran Dixon I am really hopeful that Sunday will be a competitive match. Let’s not forget the on field presence of our hooker Brad Dwyer who’s been nothing short of sensational this season. Brad is the ultimate competitor and he plays every match as if it’s a Grand Final.
League home record.
Salford 15
Draws 0
Doncaster 1
2003 Salford 72 Doncaster 0
1994 Salford 22 Doncaster 12
1990 Salford 21 Doncaster 4
1983 Salford 55 Doncaster 5
1981 Salford 59 Doncaster 13
1968 Salford 44 Doncaster 2
1964 Salford 13 Doncaster 5
1964 Salford 2 Doncaster 5
1963 Salford 34 Doncaster 26
1961 Salford 33 Doncaster 8
1960 Salford 16 Doncaster 10
1960 Salford 28 Doncaster 5
1957 Salford 31 Doncaster 4
1956 Salford 22 Doncaster 2
1955 Salford 20 Doncaster 18
1952 Salford 35 Doncaster 11
They played for both.
Richie Barnett, Ian Bragger, Luke Burgess, Rangi Chase, Peter Edwards, Brad Hepi, Graham Holroyd, Stuart Howarth, Neil Lowe, Mick McTigue, Paul Mansson, Martin Moana, Levy NZoungou, Iafeta Palea’aesina, Pauli Pauli, Jansin Turgut, Ian Watson, Chris Whiteley, Fata Sini.
A match to remember Sunday, 2nd October, 1994.
Salford 22 Doncaster 12.
In the 1993/94 season Doncaster stormed to promotion finishing a point behind Second Division champions Workington Town.
They made a terrific start to life in the top flight with an opening day victory at St.Helens 20-29. Victories over Widnes and Wakefield followed and despite a narrow home defeat to Leeds, Doncaster had three wins from their opening four matches.
Coming in to this match Salford had won just one match but had been pretty very close in all their opening fixtures.
Former Australian test fullback Gary Jack was our coach and with Sam Panapa, Andy Gregory and Mike Gregory in the team there was certainly plenty of experience. Youngsters Nathan McAvoy, Craig Randall and Scott Naylor were all making very good progress.
Phil Ford rolled back the years with a typical all action performance scoring two well taken tries. Jason Critchley and Sam Panapa also went over for tries in a narrow 22-12 win.
Doncaster’s good start to the season faded badly and they only managed two more victories out of the twenty three remaining games. With the big transition coming in the sport and Super League start in 1996, Doncaster were relegated to the new third division and over thirty years later they are still waiting to get back to the top flight.
The teams that day,
Salford, Mahon, Critchley, Naylor, McAvoy, Ford, Panapa, Andy Gregory, Young, Lee, Eccles, Forber, Mike Gregory, Randall.
Subs, Marsden, Brown.
Doncaster, Carlyle, Osborne, Manning, Neal, Evans, Green, Farrar, Jackson, Whakarau, Whiteley, Miller, Mata’utia, Turner.
Subs, Pennant, Lingard.
Referee, Steve Presley.
Attendance, 3,147.
Sunday’s match.
It’s over sixty years since Doncaster won this fixture. 18th April 1964 at the height of Beatle mania Doncaster won a tight match at the Willows 2-5. It was a glooming time to be a Salford supporter, we ended up finishing 12th in the second division just a point above bottom side Doncaster. Swinton won the first division to be crowned champions.
Looking ahead to Sunday Doncaster will no doubt start as favourites but they will have to navigate the atmosphere of a Salford home game and that won’t be easy. After such a miserable season in 2025 Salford’s support this season has been very encouraging. Fans have travelled in big numbers to the away matches and the players have been galvanised by this.
At the time of writing this week’s preview I’ve not heard of any loan players joining ahead of Sunday. It will be interesting to see who coach Dave Hewitt picks as his starting halves. Youngster Lewis Pilling scored a fantastic try last Sunday at North Wales. Pilling and Hughes will be an option. The pack will play a huge part in the outcome of the match. Sam Bowring and Jack Bibby have added some real size up front and with the players Doncaster have to pick from our forwards need to be on top of their game. It promises to be a fascinating match.
The action gets under way at 3pm
Safe travels and enjoy the game.
Paul Whiteside.
Big thanks to Steve McCormick for the photos and the Salford match day programme.