SALFORD City Reds coach Matt Parish has sounded a warning to his players ahead of their Friday night Super League showdown with the Giants.
Parish watched his side crushed 52-18 at league leaders Wigan Warriors and he blasted: “It certainly showed how far we are away from where we need to be and, as I’ve told the players, there’s no magic wand, there’s no troops coming back, we’re working with what we’ve got.”
Salford’s slim hopes of a play-off place have all but vanished with the defeat and Parish pulled no punches.
“Wigan ran harder, they tackled harder, just did everything harder,” said Parish.
“They looked pretty good, but we made them look pretty good. Our effort to defend our tryline was absolutely non-existent.
“You just can’t accept teams getting in your 20m area and scoring a try every time they get there – it doesn’t matter who you’re playing.
“We work on things in training but you need some desire and some effort – you can’t just let people waltz through you. Our goal-line defence was unacceptable. Even when we made a few breaks, we didn’t have enough push and enough people backing up. And that comes back to desire, effort and wanting to be there. They were toying with us at the end.”
Meanwhile, Sean Long is set to join Salford’s coaching staff.
The 34-year-old former Great Britain scrum-half announced his retirement as a player after two injury-plagued years at Hull FC.
Parrish is organising his staff as the Reds prepare to move to their new home at Barton next season and Long said: “I’m excited about the new challenge and luckily I can stay involved in rugby league.”
