The sun’s shining and that means red-hot Salford star Nene Macdonald is only going to burn brighter.
The elegant Papua New Guinea centre has been one of Super League’s top performers this term. He’s made a massive 2,323m, is in the competition’s leading three players for offloads and has weighed in with seven tries. And exciting Macdonald was in rip-roaring form as Salford stunned St Helens 20-18 on Sunday.
But with grounds firming up in the current heat wave, the ex-Gold Coast ace has promised he’s just going to get better. Macdonald beamed: “I loved it out there. You have to bring your best foot forward against that team.
"They’re a high-class side and have been top of the table for many years. But summer’s here. And I love playing in summer!”
He has been a superb signing for Paul Rowley’s side following his controversial exit from Leeds last autumn. Having helped Salford secure a first league double over Saints since 1980, Macdonald reckons the sky’s the limit. The Red Devils, who were missing a raft of key players, are up to fifth just two points behind second-placed Saints.
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The 30 year-old insisted: “We can do something special. I think we keep climbing the ladder, keep chipping away. No one expects us to do it.
Salford Red Devils' Nene Macdonald scores a try against St Helens only to see it disallowed for a forward pass (PA)"We don’t have much limelight on ourselves but we like being the underdogs. We claw our way up and I think we can do something great this year. This [international] break’s come at a great time to recharge and go again.”
Salford even pulled off the brilliant win without Macdonald’s destructive centre partner Tim Lafai who suffered a hamstring strain in the warm-up. But he made a game-best 160m and rattled off five tackle busts to cause Paul Wellens’ side all sorts of problems. Macdonald, who played a big part in Chris Hankinson’s late winning try, conceded: “I had to do a bit more.
"Missing Timmy was unexpected but I just thought I’d get stuck in, stay around the ruck and get a few more carries to help take that load off especially with everyone getting shuffled around into different positions. And it was a great try to finish. It was a great game the whole way. We were going set-for-set for a long time, the ball was staying in play for a long time, we were going try for try and it was such a close match. It was good to get the result.”
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