Salford Red Devils will travel to the South of France to face the Catalan Dragons as they hope to advance into the next round of the Challenge Cup.
The Red Devils who have been under financial restraints, have been able to make good progress in the competition, and will be hoping for similar fortune with the club only being 80 minutes away from a Wembley fixture.
On the route to the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup the Red Devils have beaten Midlands Hurricanes, and Bradford Bulls on the route to the last eight.
And with wins being scarce in the league, only winning in the opening five games against Huddersfield Giants, with last weekend’s 54-0 hammering to Wigan Warriors.
It is safe to say that the Red Devils have found more more comfort in the cup competition this season.
And with Joe Mellor returning to the line-up for this fixture, a huge boost for Paul Rowley’s side, who will also welcome back Jayden Nikorima into the fold after a minor hamstring issue.
Paul Rowley’s side will be hoping to advance deeper into the competition – hoping to replicate the same fortune as they did in 2020’s quarterfinals.
The Red Devils who never led in this 2020 quarter-final tie, were able to advance with Dan Sarginson’s dramatic winning effort in Golden Point extra-time sending the Salford team into the final four.
However, with a restricted squad due to the sustainability cap – it looks like a different level of Salford Red Devils will feature in their third meeting in Challenge Cup history.
And with the Dragons having home advantage, it will be a more than difficult and physical challenge for Paul Rowley’s side.
And it seems that Paul Rowley is more than aware of the challenge, as he said: “They’ve been a consistently top team for many, many years now. I think Steve McNamara has done a fantastic job since he took the reigns there.
“As ever, they are very big, physical, a lot of offloads in there and they dominant territory and possession on most games that I’ve seen them play.
“Certainly, in Catalans, (they have) a vociferous and passionate support group, so it’s an almighty challenge,” he continued.
The Dragons, who went on the win their first ever Challenge Cup Final in 2018, have competed in the quarters every year since (bar 2023), but fallen short on each occasion.
However, this may be used as motivation for Steve McNamara’s men who will be looking to seize this opportunity on Friday and bounce back after a narrow 14-13 defeat to St. Helens.
And with only two league victories this season, the Catalan Dragons will be hoping to kick start their season and book their place into the semi-finals.
The game will kick off in Perpignan at 7pm, with both sides hoping to book their place into the last four of the competition at Wembley.
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