4 Jul 2019

THE LOWDOWN: GIANTS VS SALFORD

All the information you need to know ahead of tonight's trip to Salford

The Brief

The 10th placed Giants will head to the 7th placed Salford Red Devils tonight, knowing that a win for us will narrow the gap between the two sides to just two points. A win could be vital for both sides, the Red Devils will be hoping to continue their playoff push, whilst we need the two points to drag ourselves away from the relegation battle.

The Teams

The Opposition

The two sides met on the opening day of this seasonā€™s Betfred Super League season, the Red Devils winning 34-14 at the John Smithā€™s Stadium. They followed that up a week later by beating newly promoted London Broncos 24-0 at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Their first loss of the year followed as they were beaten 46-16 at home by the Leeds Rhinos. They followed that win a narrow 24-22 win at Hull KR, before losing 26-4 at home to league leaders St Helens the following week.

The Red Devils then opened March impressively, by beating the Catalans Dragons 46-0 in Perpignan. Unfortunately for Salford, they went on to lose their next four Betfred Super League games. They were narrowly beaten 24-20 at the Castleford Tigers, before losing 30-22 against the Wigan Warriors a week later. A 33-22 defeat at Wakefield Trinity followed, before they lost 23-16 at home to Hull FC.

A 76-6 win over the Rochdale Hornets in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup allowed the Red Devils to get their first win in five games. A 36-12 win over second placed Warrington saw them win on Good Friday.

Easter Monday didnā€™t go as well for Salford, losing 30-26 at home to the Wigan Warriors.

Back to back victories followed. Firstly, they beat the London Broncos 30-10 in the capital. They followed that with a 28-16 home victory over the Leeds Rhinos.

A 32-18 at home to Hull KR saw them knocked out the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup, before they were narrowly beaten 32-30 by St Helens at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Form

Both sides will be desperate for the two points come Friday night. Giants only have one win in their last five, meanwhile the Red Devils have two in their last five games.

The Dacia Magic Weekend saw contrasting fortunes for both sides. The Giants had a great win, beating Hull FC 55-2 at Anfield. The same weekend, the Red Devils lost 22-20 to Hull KR.

The following week, Salford lost to Roversā€™ derby rivals, Hull FC, losing 35-32 at the KCOM Stadium. Meanwhile, we lost in golden points 27-26, to the Castleford Tigers.

The Red Devils got on track the following week, beating Wakefield Trinity 44-20 at the AJ Bell Stadium. Meanwhile, the Giants lost 38-2 at St Helens.

The Giants were beaten by St Helensā€™ derby rivals, the Wigan Warriors, the following week, losing 38-22 at the John Smithā€™s Stadium. Meanwhile, Salford made it two wins from two, beating the Castleford Tigers 26-16.

Last weekend, Salford were beaten 28-12 by Wigan, whilst the Giants were beaten 36-10 at Wakefield.

Key Players

Joey Lussick

Former Manly Sea Eagle, Joey Lussick, arrived at the Red Devils and has been a key part of their side since joining from Australia. He has appeared in all 20 of Salfordā€™s Betfred Super League fixtures so far this campaign.

Lussick has scored 10 times this season, as well as setting up a further 11 tries for his team-mates. He has also made a massive 703 tackles in 2019 so far. The hooker has also made 123 marker tackles this campaign, as well as making 73 runs from dummy half.

Ukuma Taā€™ai

Ukuma Taā€™ai has been at the Giants since 2013 and is still showing why he is a massive player for us. The forward has appeared in 18 of our 20 Betfred Super League games so far this season.

Taā€™ai has made 1405 metres in 2019, an average gain of 7.28 metres per carry this season. He has also made 473 tackles, as well as 75 marker tackles. The forward has also made 43 tackle busts.

Key Battle

Darnell McIntosh v Niall Evalds

One of the main battleā€™s on the pitch this evening is likely to be between the two fullbacks. Both will need to protect their line well, as well as link up the play in attack.

Niall Evalds has appeared in all 20 of Salfordā€™s Betfred Super League fixtures this campaign, whilst Darnell McIntosh has featured in 19 of the Giantsā€™ 20.

McIntosh has the most metres between the pair this season, making 1946 compared to Evaldsā€™ 1630, however Evalds has a slightly higher average gain at 7.51 compared to McIntoshā€™s 7.48.

Both have been key to their sides scoring tries this year too. McIntosh has eight tries and eleven try assists, whilst Evalds has 17 tries and seven try assists to his name.

McIntosh also had more tackle busts, making 91 compared to Evaldsā€™ 47, Evalds has made 101 tackles though, compared to Darnellā€™s 95.

Previous Meetings

As noted earlier, there has been one previous meeting between the two sides this year, with it coming on the opening day of the 2019 Betfred Super League season.

Izaac Farrellā€™s second minute penalty gave us our first points on the 2019 season and put us 2-0 up in the game.

Salford then took the lead in the 13th minute. On the last tackle they went down the short side and Junior Saā€™au forced his way over in the corner to give them the lead. The resulting conversion was missed, so it remained 4-2. Just after the half-hour mark the lead was extended. Salford passed the ball from right to left and it allowed Ken Sio to slide in the corner. Once again, the conversion was missed so it stayed 8-2.

We responded three minutes into the second half. Jordan Turner getting the ball out to Akuila Uate on the right wing and he scored. Farrellā€™s conversion made it 8-8. A 52nd minute Joey Lussick penalty re-gave Salford their lead at 10-8. Two minutes later, Salford scored their third try of the game. He bounced his way over the line in the right corner, Lussickā€™s conversion made it 16-8. Evalds scored his second three minutes later, he picked up a reverse kick to extend the lead. The missed conversion meant it remained 20-8. Sio added his second ten minutes from time, he strolled in after a pass from Evalds. He converted his own try to make it 26-8. Evalds then completed his hat-trick seven minutes from time, the missed conversion meant it was 30-8 as we approached the final five minutes. Kruise Leeming then went over from dummy half for the Giants to reduce the deficit. Farrellā€™s conversion made it 30-14 with two minutes left. Salford then scored again on the hooter. A scrappy play ended with Derrel Olpherts touching down in the right corner. Once again, the conversion was missed, so the final score was Giants 14-34 Salford.

The two sides will meet again this season after this fixture. They are scheduled to clash at the AJ Bell Stadium on August 11th.

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