Salford head coach Ian Watson heaped praised on Robert Lui after he inspired Salford to victory over Leeds on his return from injury.
The former North Queensland Cowboy had missed several weeks of action due to a knee injury, but made his comeback as Salford returned to winning ways.
Watson said:”He is a massive player for us. It is difficult when you lose half-backs and we learned that last season.
“Josh Wood did well for us in the short-term and he has a good future in front of him. But he doesn’t have that presence or the vocalness that Rob gives you.”
This victory helped Salford avenge a 70-6 annihilation they suffered at the hands of the Rhinos last year, and move them up to seventh in the table.
“We’ve not beaten them for a long time,” Watson said. “But most importantly we got a win and it puts us back to where we want to be, challenging towards the top end rather than looking below us.
“We looked at a lot of teams who have played Leeds recently and we thought we could come up with a way – if we executed it properly and we defended well – that we would stop them from scoring.
“So, the boys deserve all the credit because they have gone out and put it into action.”
//www.totalrl.com/mcdermott-keen-not-use-injuries-excuse-latest-defeat/
A full match report of Saturday’s game will be in the new League Express. Available in stores Monday and online Sunday evening.
