Leeds Rhinos v Salford Red Devils: Poching's warning puts Leeds Rhinos on red alert

LEEDS RHINOS won't be facing a team with nothing to play for tonight, Salford Red Devils' assistant-coach Willie Poching has warned.
Willie Poching.Willie Poching.
Willie Poching.

Salford have slipped to seventh in the Betfred Super-8s table and saw their hopes of silverware evaporate during an eight-game losing streak in July and August.

That poor run began when they were beaten 50-24 at home by Leeds and ended with a 52-14 victory over Huddersfield Giants last Saturday.

Poching predicted Salford will be highly-motivated tonight.

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He said: “We still remember our last performance against them, which was disappointing on our behalf, so there is a bit of pride there for us.

“We feel like the season deserves to finish on a note befitting the performances we’ve put in over the course of it.

“We don’t want to go out on the back of a couple of disappointing performances. We were really happy with what happened last week against Huddersfield and we want to continue that.”

Poching was a member of Rhinos’ Grand Final-winning team in 2004. Of his old club, he said: “They have secured their spot and they are going to get a home semi-final.

“That’s great reward for them.

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“They are in that position for a reason, they are there because they have been consistently the second-best team in the competition.

“When they are firing and they click they play some of the best footy they’ve shown over the last couple of years.

“They are free-flowing, they off-load and defensively the opposition have to be on their mettle every play.

“From one to 17 they are very dangerous, but they’ve also had some performances that leave you scratching your head a bit.

“I hope we get that team on Friday.”