Salford coach Paul Rowley is promising he “can fix” his Red Devils team if stability is achieved despite another Super League drubbing, this time at Catalans Dragons.
The cash-crisis club crashed to a 38-10 defeat in Perpignan.
But a defiant Rowley said: “If we come through the other side and we get to some stability and get the cap lifted I can promise you that I can fix this team quite quickly into a team that can compete.”
Salford have been decimated by salary cap restrictions and departures from the playing group because of a delay in a takeover and late salary payments.
But Rowley struck a defiant note after a Tommy Makinson hat-trick-inspired defeat by the Dragons.
He added: “We are not that far off, obviously we have had some considerable salary cap and X-factor players stripped from us so with a change in fortunes and spend in that regard I can promise you I can fix this pretty quickly.
“There’s a lot of this season left and we’re not too far away from a lot of teams above us and there’s still a team below us. There’s a lot to play for and I’ve been in these positions before as a player, at Huddersfield we had 13 losses on the bounce and we flipped that on its head in the second half of the season.
“I’ve learned lessons from tough experiences in the past and it will stand us in good stead going forward.
“There are a lot of things that are not in our control and we just concentrate on the things that we can.
“As a coach it’s about trying to help people along their journey, in whatever that is.
“We’ve got six loan players here and their journey is very unique. My job is to try and facilitate that and bring them together.
“I would say we’ve got a good group, all of our loan players have been fantastic, buying in and the rest of the players who existed at the club have welcomed them brilliantly, I am really proud of the attitude of the group.
“You learn about people in tough times and I’m enjoying learning about people, it’s a pleasure for me.”
Catalans coach Steve McNamara was smiling in the post-match press conference with the Dragons leapfrogging Wakefield and Warrington to seventh in the Super League table and a place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals already in the bag.
He said: “They are never easy games against Salford, they always test us and I was pleased with the way we handled a potentially tricky game in general.
“We’re beginning to build from a difficult start to the season and we’re moving up the table and 80 minutes from a potential return to Wembley.
“Our senior players like Luke Keary, Theo Fages, Ben Garcia and Julian Bousquet really stood up for us tonight. I was particularly pleased to see Tommy Makinson get off the mark for us with a hat-trick of tries which is what he deserved after putting in so much effort so far this season.
“There’s a lot to be pleased about in what is a very important part of the season for us.”
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