9. Salford Red Devils
I do feel Salford will lose some fear factor next season, having lost the competition’s best player in Jackson Hastings. The departed Josh Jones was also comfortably their best forward.
Teams will go to the AJ Bell with a bit more confidence and fearlessness than last season.
However, they have recruited reasonably well, bringing in the likes of Sebastine Ikahihifo and Luke Yates. Ikahihifo has explosive power and Yates is an absolute workhorse.
Pauli Pauli will be an interesting signing: he can be a match winner but he can also be a passenger.
The likes of Niall Evalds and Joey Lussick are both very dangerous players, but the squad as a whole is small and they may not have as much good fortune with injuries as they did last season.
A few players in their squad also, to their credit, had career-best-seasons in 2019; they may struggle to emulate the same level of efficiency next season, but they may prove the doubters wrong once again.
Key Player – Tui Lolohea. After a pretty disastrous stint at Leeds, Lolohea was a borderline revelation at Salford and demonstrated his dazzling footwork and unpredictable ball skills in both the grand final and for Tonga during their famous win over the Aussies. If he consistently applies his undoubted ability next season he will go very well indeed for Salford, but can he deliver week-in week-out now he has that bit more responsibility without the great Jackson Hastings?
