Gil Dudson only realised Salford boss Paul Rowley could be leaving following a chance conversation with his father-in-law!
Thankfully, for Red Devils fans, their highly-rated head coach turned down a bumper offer from Super League rivals Hull this week. Salford released a statement on Tuesday confirming Rowley is staying so he’s in charge as normal for Saturday's visit from Warrington. But Wales prop Dudson, 33, admitted: “I didn’t really know about any of it until Tuesday.
"I was trying to get hold of a couple of staff and couldn’t get hold of anyone. And then it was my father-in-law who told me it was all going off with Hull FC! But it’s been put to bed now so that’s great news for the club. Rowls is a top, top coach. It’d have been a shame to see him leave.”
Rowley, 49, brought Dudson back to Salford last month on a season-long loan deal from Warrington. He said: “I worked with him when I was at Salford last time [2019-2020] when he was here on a consultancy role. I got on great with him then. He’s got the head job this time which is a little bit different.
“But what you see and what you get with him is just dead straight. He demands an awful lot from you but you know exactly where you stand: there’s no ambiguity with him which is a rarity these days.”
World Cup hero wants Man Utd move as doubts over Harry Maguire's future grow
Salford have picked up five wins from their opening eight Super League games. But they take on a Warrington side who have lost just once in their last nine outings. Ex-Wigan, Widnes and Catalans front-row Dudson faces them for the first time since being allowed to leave after struggling for game time.
Salford's Gil Dudson on his 'second' debut against Wigan (Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)He admitted: “There’s no animosity from my end with the club. Things happen. I’ve moved on across to Salford and I’m really enjoying my rugby. I've got some really good friends at Warrington and I’m still in regular contact; I speak to the boys weekly and I wish them every success. Of course I want a big game. You want to play well every week but when it’s a former club there’s always that little bit extra. “Fortunately, or unfortunately, for me I’ve had quite a few clubs so it’s every other week I come up against one!”
He made his third appearance coming off the bench in last week’s narrow 12-4 victory at winless London but said: “There’s a big onus on us to step up and play the best game we have all season. We’ll need to against Warrington. They are coming in in really massive form. They’re on a high, playing some really good rugby. Everyone’s working hard for each other, they have some real speed and class throughout the team. We’re expecting a really tough game.”
Dudson, who won Super League with Wigan in 2013 before playing in a Grand Final with Salford six years later, admitted: “Last week was a bit of a calamity. We ended up staying miles away because of the [London] marathon and the two [ FA Cup ] semi-finals, we got to the game late and we just couldn’t seem to nail that final pass.
“We made six or seven line breaks but couldn’t keep hold of the ball to get over the line. We got the two points which is the main thing. But we’ve been pretty inconsistent the past few weeks so we’re trying to up our game and everyone needs to be at eight or nine out of ten at least.”
Dudson turns 34 in June and is out of contract at the end of the season. He has already started work as a mortgage broker in his spare time but hasn’t decided yet what his future plans are yet. Dudson said: “It’s nice to be enjoying my rugby in a good environment.
"We’re getting to that point now where contracts are getting spoken about. I’m pretty open-minded. I’m enjoying my time here and it’s great news Rowls is staying, for the club and me personally. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks. I think there’s still some juice left in my legs but we’ll see.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
