Are you ready? Another Betfred Super League season – full of thrills and spills – is about to get underway.
Salford Red Devils’ first task is newly-promoted Leigh Leopards, at Leigh Sports Village. Despite so much on-field progression in 2022, Paul Rowley’s side will want to build on that blueprint and go one or two steps better in 2023.
In pre-season, the Red Devils retained the Peter Smethurst Trophy against Swinton Lions and fell short against Wigan Warriors in Sam Powell’s testimonial. But most importantly, the squad earned some valuable match fitness ahead of this crucial opener.
Adrian Lam’s side were dominant in the Championship last season and romped to a Grand Final victory. The ever-impressive Edwin Ipape was a standout and ended up winning Try of the Season for a brilliant solo try against York City Knights.
This tasty opener acts as a perfect opportunity for Salford to kickstart what could be a memorable campaign, but here’s everything you need to know surrounding this particular fixture:
Squad News
The main piece of positive injury news is the return of Ken Sio to our 21-man squad. The number two has always been a reliable try-scorer for Salford and he’ll be aiming to reclaim his Super League top spot from Bevan French this season.
Sam Stone and Adam Sidlow are also in contention to make an appearance against their former club, while Andy Ackers and Jack Ormondroyd are fresh from signing contract extensions earlier this week.
After his 40 minute run-out against the Warriors nearly a fortnight ago, skipper, Kallum Watkins is also back 100% fit and in contention to play after shoulder surgery.

Rowley’s Preview
Discussing Jack Ormondroyd’s contract extension earlier this week, our Head Coach thinks tying down players like our number eight is extremely important for the future.
“Jack (Ormondroyd), since I’ve been in, has been very, very good,” Rowley began.
“He’s a big athlete. As I pointed out with the Brodie (Croft) one, retention is a big part of getting stability within a club – so it’s a good signing.”

How to buy tickets
As mentioned previously, our set away allocation is completely SOLD OUT. However, you can buy tickets in the overspill blocks by clicking HERE.