Phil Clarke: Salford should select their academy players, not their coaching staff

Instead of bringing coaches out of retirement, depleted Salford should give their academy players a chance, says Phil Clarke...

I thought I was having a really weird dream this week in which a Super League team attempted to get a match postponed because they didn’t have enough players.

Then I realised it wasn’t my brain playing tricks on me in the middle of the night and I didn’t need to see a doctor. It was true; the Doctor’s team wanted their game with Hull to be rearranged.

Salford’s best player, Rangi Chase, is missing through suspension, as are one or two of his teammates. Several others are injured and will be missing for some time.

However, if you looked at the Salford website at the start of the season you’ll see that they listed a first-team squad of 29 players, and they run an academy team which plays regularly in an Under-19s competition against other Super League clubs.

For a short period of time, the energy and enthusiasm from young players, allied to a spirit in which they’re not expected to win, can make a team like Salford very hard to beat.

In addition to this, they’ve loaned players from other clubs such as Oliver Gildart, James Greenwood and Wayne Godwin. Why don’t they have enough players?

I’ve read today that their Under-19s coach, Martin Gleeson, may come out of retirement to play on Friday, alongside another assistant coach, Ian Watson, but I’m sat here questioning where we’re going.

Enthusiasm

Despite their injury crisis and suspensions through ill-discipline, Salford have played very well in their last three games. Okay, they’ve lost all three but none by more than 10 points and with a bit of luck they could have beaten Leigh in the Challenge Cup and Castleford in Super League. For a short period of time, the energy and enthusiasm from young players, allied to a spirit in which they’re not expected to win, can make a team like Salford very hard to beat.

The Reds have worked hard as a club and invested a lot of time, effort and money in employing Alan Hunte and Gleeson to help their young players get better. They’ve had players signed by the club quite recently who started training with the first team at the end of October - six months ago - and yet are deemed not ready for action.

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I’m sat here struggling to see why they wouldn’t pick players such as Jon Ford, who has been out on loan at Oldham, or Brad England, who has played for the Gloucester All Golds when Salford didn’t select him. Players of their age regularly get a run-out at other clubs when they have injuries, so why not at Salford?

It’s possible someone could argue that their young players are physically incapable of playing and it would be unsafe on medical grounds, but I don’t buy that and we’ve no evidence to support that theory. Castleford gave a debut to teenager Ash Robson against Salford last Sunday and he did pretty well. In fact, he was that enthusiastic chasing a long kick downfield that he ended up scoring the game’s crucial try.

Chance

I was at Sunday's game at the AJ Bell Stadium and I bumped into a legend of the game called Mick Morgan. He’s more famous now for his comical commentaries on Castleford games, especially ones made in a match against Wigan in the 1990s but he was once one of the best players in the country, and played for England at the 1975 World Cup.

We talked about young players needing a chance and how we both felt that we’d been lucky to get a few first-team games at an age and stage in our careers when you need exposure at a higher level to help you kick on.

He recalled the time when he’d been a reserve at Wakefield waiting for his chance but knowing that the player in front of him was a little bit better. This player was also a bit of a joker whose attitude wasn’t appreciated by the board of directors. When he was told to put his tie on before getting on the team bus for an away game he decided to tie it around his waist. His team-mates thought this was quick-witted and hilarious but the directors didn’t quite see it like that and sold him to another club the following week.

Mick was then selected and played for Wakefield, York, Featherstone, Carlisle, Oldham and Castleford in a career that spanned 25 years.

For the sake of the game I hope that Gleeson and Watson forget their ties this week and another young player gets his chance.