Salford Red Devils have faced criticism over the “unfair” handling of the latest salary-cap sanction by the Castleford Tigers owner.
Owner of Castleford Tigers, Martin Jepson, criticised the decision and claimed the ongoing uncertainty over Friday’s Betfred Super League fixture is set to cost his club money in lost ticket sales.
Jepson is furious that Salford, who had a £1.2million squad limit reimposed after failing to deliver their February payroll, have nevertheless been granted dispensation to name three new players.
The three players include captain Kallum Watkins and star half-back Marc Sneyd – in their 17-man squad.
It means that provided the Salford players – who were still awaiting payment on Thursday afternoon have agreed to play, with Paul Rowley being able to start with a virtually full-strength side as both clubs seek their first win of the season so far.
It’s 𝙂𝘼𝙈𝙀 𝘿𝘼𝙔 👹
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🎟️ Available online until 12pm & on gate. pic.twitter.com/NeHXlPdX3S— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) March 7, 2025
Jepson said: “I don’t think it’s fair. They’ve been able to bring in three England internationals for players who are suspended.
“I don’t understand how that fits in with the salary-cap regulations. They are using the regulations to get around match suspensions that are meant to be being served by those players, and it doesn’t make sense.”
The Red Devils were initially sanctioned at the start of the season due to a protracted takeover saga, and controversially fielded a youth team in their opening Super League match at St Helens, which they lost by a competition record 82-0.
Technically, Salford are unable to bring in any more players who did not feature in the Challenge Cup game against Midlands Hurricanes last month.
However, the Red Devils have convinced the RFL in a series of meetings this week that without the dispension, they would not be able to raise a team.
The issue is further complicated by reports that a number of Salford players have refused to play or train until their wages are paid.
While the club are now confident they will have enough players to fulfil the fixture, this comes is as no solace to Jepson.
“This is taking up a huge amount of my time at the moment and it shouldn’t be my problem,” he added. “Whatever happens (tonight), we can’t really win. We’ve been brought into this situation and it’s not of our making.
“At the moment I’m struggling to sell tickets for the match because nobody knows what kind of team is going to be turning up.
“I’m relying on promises that have been made by Salford regarding salaries that are nothing to do with me.”
Jepson completed his takeover of Castleford in November last year warning that the finances of rugby league clubs across the board were in a “pretty miserable state”.
And he believes the ongoing Salford saga has cast another negative light on the sport less than a week after the hyperbole surrounding Wigan’s clash with Warrington in Las Vegas.
He continued: “It’s something we don’t need and it’s something that should not have been allowed to get to this stage.
““It takes a lot of the gloss off. It’s been a massive distraction for the game over the last six months. I’m very annoyed and I think a lot of other clubs have been very annoyed about it too.”
Despite the controversy surrounding the salary-cap, tonight’s fixture will commence at 8pm at The Jungle – with both sides looking to lift themselves off the bottom of the league, only separated by an enormous -95 points difference.
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