We had a great night with some fantastic Q&As with Lee Mossop, Cliff Eccles, Richard Marshall and an impromptu one with Paul King too.
The Trust is there to give the fans a voice and give us the means to invest in our future talent, so come and join us for only £10 p.a. which is incredible value
Agreed. As fans we really need every fan to be aware of the Supporters Trust and to join as a member. For a tenner a year it's peanuts and if we got 3000 ST members you're looking at £30k raised to help fund ST projects etc and that's before all the other great events they put on like the Motown Night / 80's Night that they've got coming up in over the next 6 weeks. They're also working well with Paul King & Richard Marshall to help support the club and this is the sort of engagement we need to be having with the club, especially in light of the fact we don't have the wealthy benefactor.
Pete, Shirley B, Alan B and the likes of James Hoskison do some fantastic work behind the scenes and any support we can give them would definitely be appreciated.👏👏👏
As for last night I scribbled a few notes and I'm sure they're fine to be shared.
Moose Q&A:
When
he signed for us he was ready to retire due to his numerous shoulder operations. Watson told him he could sort him out and he signed for 12 months out of inquisition more than anything else. He's managed 5 years he never thought he'd have and said he's loved his time at the club.
He started this season feeling fantastic and in as good a shape as for a long time and decided to, in his words, "smash someone"😁 with his first hit up. Unfortunately, he damaged the shoulder in that challenge and consultant diagnosed nerve damage which was different than all his other previous injuries. This meant risk of further damage and on specialist advice he's hung up his boots. He said he felt he needed to go out on his terms and this was the time. Obvious highlight of his time at club was "that" try at Wigan but also cup final and the GF.
He said he'd love to help out with some of the younger forwards at the club and believes there's some talent at the club.
He also said the long winning run in the lead up to the grand final was down to a piss up trip to Ireland. Things weren't going great on the pitch so someone within the club suggested a break to Ireland which basically involved plenty of Guinness and a few home truths coming out/team bonding taking place. The rest is history!😁👍 (moral of story, boozing isn't always evil!)
Shirley handed over a cheque from the ST for Moose's testimonial and nominated charity.
It was stated by a fan that his shoulder seemed fine when he decked Hurrell which brought a few chuckles.😂
There will be a testimonial match for Moose next year (watch this space)
Cliff Eccles:
Said he signed in 94 from Rochdale and jumped at chance to play with some great players like Panapa, A Gregory, M Gregory etc. Said he just ran hard and fast and tackled. Probably did himself down as a player and said he was a grafter but he knew his worth to the team and always gave 100%. Showed us his mangled hands from playing rugby which weren't for the faint hearted.😁
He's still got his MOM trophy from Premiership Final at OT although he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to hand it back or not!
Loved the atmosphere from The Shed which was something totally new having come from a smaller club like Rochdale and some of his Salford highlights were when Super League started and he played in Paris & Australia for the WCC. Had some great memories touring Adelaide/North Queensland. Main one was the local police knocking on the door for Scoot Naylor after he'd written "Aussies are ****" on some famous bar wall.😁
He left for Swinton in 99 as struggling with pace of SL as he was 29/30 at the time, despite Andy Gregory offering him another year contract
He's now a Chartered H&S Advisor and has done a few Ironman's to keep fit etc.
He also says the modern game isn't as fun to watch due to lack of flair, no biff etc.
I think it's fair to say they both come across as great guys and we really need to keep them (and other ex-players) involved with the club, even if it's just as guests at future events etc. I'm sure as fans we'd love to buy them all a pint at some point and thank them for their services!
Richard Marshall:
Hull performance - Team clicked and with a more settled spine we showed what we are capable of. Bench was really good and Tui, Escare, Sio all showed what they are capable of. By sounds of it Escare has taken a bit of time to settle.
v Cas at Magic - Probably similar team as Pauli still suffering with COVID, Taylor never really recovered from his COVID either and lost weight etc which we're all aware of.
Ellis Robson will be staying for time being and will be involved at weekend. RM was impressed with his performance v Hull. Sam Luckley has made great strides this season and is loving it at Salford (offers something different with offloads) and amusingly Elijah Taylor asked what part of Europe he was from when he joined club as he thought his accent was Spanish.😂
Burke was nominated captain after consultation with Moose, Brown etc as is well respected in changing room.
Contracts/new players etc:
Inu - has got a French partner so playing over there may appeal to him but club is trying to tie him down for another 12 months.
Sio - also been offered a deal but he obvs has other offers (and let's be honest they will probably involve more £££)
2022 - Most players retained, work ongoing with those that aren't.
Connor Aspey very much part of future plans despite the signing of Amir Bourouh from Wigan.
Jack Stephens (half-back) has been brought in to train with 1st team squad (being eased in) as he's done really well with Danny Barton's development squad. He's really well thought of by a few people close to the club and the club really want to try and make sure they are able to hold onto local youngsters and any financial support from the ST helps with that (Connor was funded by the ST). Losing 6 lads from Eccles Roosters to Warrington this week can't happen again!
Supporters Trust:
£10k raised this year
Motown night at Bluebell on 18/9
80's night at Bluebell on 16/10
Anyone wanting tickets contact Alan/Shirley on Facebook or drop a note on here and I'll pass details on.
Players awards evening:
Wed 22/9 - Ticket details due out very soon.
Stadium situation:
Not something I really want to post on here as Paul King spoke after the end of the meeting about it. I think all I can say is that he's putting in lots of work behind the scenes to get the best deal for the club. Personally I don't think it's helpful if people are sharing stuff on Twitter/Facebook etc while negotiations are ongoing as it could affect things. I for one, trust him and Bleasey implicitly to do what's right for the club. They're not money men, they're Salfordians that love the club and they'll continue to engage with fans when the time is right.
Apologies for the long post, just wanted to share what I can and I feel is ok to be in the public domain.
I think for future meetings they're going to try and move them around the city which will give fans the chance to get down and engage.
Cheers.
