DECLAN Murphy gave Paul Rowley something to smile about as another difficult week for Salford Red Devils ended in a 42-6 defeat away to Leeds Rhinos on Friday.
The New Zealand-born cross-code prospect was making only his second appearance for Salford, lining up at fullback after making his debut off the interchange bench in the previous week’s 26-22 win over Castleford Tigers.
Murphy joined the Betfred Super League side after leaving Gallagher Premiership rugby union club Saracens at the end of the 2024/25 season, having also spent part of the campaign on loan at RFU Championship side Ampthill playing at scrumhalf, and Salford head coach Rowley sees him as one of the players who could help rebuild the club.
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A strong second 40 for the Rhinos 🦏#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/CundjFj8xs
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 18, 2025
“He’s a young kid, he’s living his dream, he’s come from rugby union and he’s got that commodity,” Rowley told Sky Sports. “He’s got speed, he’s got bravery and skill, so he’s got all the attributes.
“This situation we find ourselves in, if you’re going to look for a positive then it’s enabled people like Declan and Sam Hill and others the opportunity to come onto the stage.
“The opportunity has struck for them because of our circumstance and if we unearth some unbelievable talents like that and start our rebuild around people like that then it gives us some hope and us as a staff something to cling onto.
“That makes me smile, seeing people like Declan and Sam Hill.”
The defeat to fourth-placed Leeds came at the end of a week which saw threats of senior players pulling out of the squad for the match averted following talks with RFL officials, including governing body CEO Tony Sutton.
The financial situation at the Red Devils remains uncertain, but Rowley is at least seeing some positives on the playing side thanks to having a level of consistency in team selection in recent matches.
“If we can get the best out of them and they can give their best then we can’t really have many complaints,” Rowley said.
“But when we get consistency of the team, which we’ve kind of had of late, we can start adding the layers of details.
“Having a little bit of consistency enables us to put some detail in, and the detail is quite often the difference between getting over the whitewash or not.”