Salford Red Devils boss hails on-loan Toby Warren, tips 'real deal' Leeds Rhinos as Grand Final contenders

Warren, 21, joined Salford in April on a deal until the end of this season and is in contention to make his 11th appearance away to Rhinos tomorrow. He moved to AMT Headingley from York Knights ahead of the 2023 campaign on a four-year contract, but hasn’t played a first team game for Leeds.

There is no restriction on him featuring for Salford against his parent club and Rowley said: “He has been really good. He is obviously a young lad who made his debut with us so he has had to be propelled into the Super League arena from never experiencing it before.

“He is certainly a good kid, he has got a great character and great potential. He has had a lot of exposure now to Super League so we are really pleased with him. He is not the finished article by a long shot, but he has certainly got lots of potential.”

Warren joined Salford as part of the deal which took their captain Kallum Watkins to Leeds, 17 years after he made his Rhinos debut. Watkins has played in all Leeds’ 11 games since his April move and Rowley reckons he has “certainly added some stardust to an already very good team”.

He said: “We unfortunately lost Kallum due to the situation here, but he was always a champion player here and a good leader and he has just transferred that over to Leeds, playing in a team that is on the front foot more often than not. He is timeless, he keeps getting better and better.

“The measure of a good player is consistency and he certainly is that. I think he is consistent off the field and that translates to what he does on it. He is a good role model for any youngster coming through.”

Tomorrow’s game is the sides’ third meeting this season, following Leeds’ 32-6 win in February and 28-0 victory two months later, both at Salford. The Red Devils are bottom of Betfred Super League, but picked up their second victory of the campaign when they stunned Castleford Tigers 26-22 - also after two earlier defeats - last Sunday.

Rowley described Salford’s task this week as “incredibly tough”. He said: “I think [coach] Brad Arthur has done a fantastic job with them and in my opinion, when Leeds are on they are as good as anything in Super League. If I was a betting man I would be having 10p on Leeds having a crack at the Grand Final.

“I think they are a great team, they have got great balance and they are a team of athletes as well. They are very persistent, very patient and their ability to build pressure and deal with it defensively as well [makes them] a more resilient team and tougher. I don’t just mean physically, I mean in terms of being disciplined with the ball and not quite having the ‘now or never’-type attitude they perhaps showed previously.

“I think they have been fantastic this year and they have been a pleasure to watch at times. They have been very patient, but when the dam breaks they have got the ability and athletes to really damage opposition. I’ve seen that quite a few times from them, I think they are the real deal.”