Fly with the Reds to France for Free

Salford City Reds have been drawn against Huddersfield Giants in Round Five of the Carnegie Challenge Cup. The Super League teams were drawn together just two weeks after the reds recorded a fine win at Huddersfield in the league.

Further details and ticket information will follow.

The draw in full:

Whitehaven V Les Catalans Dragons
Warrington V Barrow
Leeds V Wigan
Hull FC V Sheffield
Salford V Huddersfield
St Helens V Rochdale
Oldham V Harlequins
Wakefield V Bradford

Flames Scoop Fantastic Double

Salford City Reds Cheerleaders, the Red Hot Flames have reason to be celebrating after taking the double at the national Cheerleading Championships last weekend. The event held at the NIA in Birmingham saw the Flames walk away with the trophies for both Cheerdance and Pom Dance and Head coach Suzanne Roberts was thrilled with the result.

Commenting on their proud moment Suzanne said, ‘We’re absolutely delighted to have got the double and I am immensely proud of all the girls, they have worked really hard and their dedication showed in their performance over the weekend. Much of the success is down to Lyndsey McLaughlin who works really hard in pulling together all the dances together and my thanks go out to her for all the work she has put into these championships.’

The Flames were not the only ones celebrating success, the Mini Flames came third in the cheer dance category and the Red Hot Sparklers and Red Hot Dynamites took third in the pom dance.

The Flames sponsored by Austin Wilkinson and Sons now have the opportunity to represent the UK at the European Cheerleading Championships in Denmark this June and fundraising has begun to hopefully get the girls across to Scandinavia for the event. However if there is anyone who would like to sponsor the Flames flight to the European Championships we’d be delighted to hear from you.

Berthezène arrives in town

Having arrived in the country yesterday, David Berthezène started training at Sedgeley Park this morning (Thursday). Having met his Salford City Reds team mates David now embarks on a rugby career that for the first time takes him out of his native France.

On loan for an initial period of one month from French side Les Catalan Dragons, David is currently the French National Team hooker, having represented his country against every major national team in rugby league including Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. David will most certainly represent France in this years round of internationals and make the squad for the 2008 World Cup. With a reputation as a hard working player who wants to succeed he has a serious attitude and as a Catalan is a very proud person.

We caught up with David before training this morning to ask him a few questions and thankfully he speaks perfect English.

David, welcome to England and Salford City Reds
Thank you and I am really pleased to be here. It is the first time I will be representing a club outside of France, so it’s going to be a really big change for me.

So what are your first thoughts of Salford?
It seems great. I have been here several times before as we have stayed at the Marriott in Worsley and have visited the Trafford Centre. The weather is very different but that does not really bother me, I’m here to do a job and I’m really looking forward to getting started.

So with Malcolm Alker out injured, you will be stepping into his boots. How does that feel?
Malcolm Alker is a big player and a key player to the Reds and always gives his best and maximum performance he can to the club. It’s not going to be an easy job but I’m going to give it the best I can. There is really only one Malcolm Alker and he has the added advantage of being popular with his fellow team mates and the fans. They are big boots to step into!

David, it looks like you will be playing in the game against Huddersfield on Sunday. How do you feel about that?
Excited! It will be my first match for an English team and I just want to get stuck into it. Both teams are going to very committed and I hope we can go away and come back with a good result.

David will be taking the number 27 jersey for the Reds’ and if you want to here more from the man himself he will be joining fellow Reds’ team mate Luke Robinson on the Rugby League hour this evening at 7pm on BBC Radio Manchester.

Meanwhile the Reds’ captain Malcolm Alker is set to be on the sidelines for between four and six weeks with medial knee ligament damage.

Alker told us: “Thankfully it doesn’t require surgery but the ligament was hanging by a thread and will need four weeks of complete rest.”

So knowing Malc he’ll be training in a fortnight!

Mark Edmondson, Salford’s other injury victim from last weekend told us: “I feel quite comfortable and mobile to be honest. They tried to put my shoulder in twice at The Willows on Friday night without success so they had to do it in the hospital.

“I have a scan this weekend to determine the muscle and tissue damage so that will give us an idea of how long I can expect to be out for.”

Salford City Reds 20-man squad: Hodgson, McGuinness, Wilshere, Dorn, Robinson, Coley, Korkidas, Finnigan, Highton, Viane, Brocklehurst, Haggerty, Adamson, Littler, Gower, Halliwell, Turner, Jewitt, Williams, Berthezene.

Huddersfield Giants 20-man squad: Reilly, Aspinwall, Brown, Lolesi, Thorman, Paul, Crabtree, Drew, Skandalis, Nero, Raleigh, Wild, Jones, Jackson, Mason, Griffin, Hudson, Snitch, Gardner, Hemingway.

engage Super League is off to Cardiff. For information and tickets for our incredible Millennium Magic event – Salford City Reds v Warrinton Wolves, click here or contact the RFL on 0871 226 1313. Alternatively bookings can be made at the club shop.

The club will be running a coach on the Sunday of the event, places will be limited so book early for this historic event

Reds capture Dragon’s Hooker

Salford City reds have moved to strengthen their injury-hit squad with today’s signing of David Berthezène, initially on a one month loan from Les Catalan Dragons.

With Malcolm Alker currently out of the squad with medial knee ligament damage, the Reds were without a recognised hooker for the forthcoming fixtures, so news of the loan comes at a crucial time.

The English speaking Frenchman flies into Manchester tomorrow and will be included in the Reds’ squad in the game against Huddersfield at the Galpharm Stadium on Sunday.

Speaking of the signing, Reds’ coach, Karl Harrison said, ‘David is an experienced player and hooker and we are looking forward to working with him. Initially he is on loan to us for a month but if things go well we may look at extending that further, as it has become clear that we need a back up in this position.’

Malcolm Alker is today seeing a specialist regarding his injury, the full extent of which should be known by the end of today. Further details will be on the Reds website as soon as more information is known.

Reds’ fans are reminded that tickets for Sunday’s clash are available from The Willows and are free of charge to Under 12s.

The club are running a coach but places must be reserved by Thursday in order to confirm the booking.

Salford are looking for their fans to really get behind them after the recent poor run of results and we need you at the Galpharm on Sunday.

We know it’s been disappointing but we always turn out there and make a lot of noise so come and get your tickets and cheer the lads on to a much needed victory.

Reds’ Stars Face Injury Layoff

Reds’ stars Malcolm Alker and Mark Edmondson will have a tense couple of days waiting for the views of doctors and specialists after both picking up bad injuries in Friday night’s defeat to Wigan.

Captain Alker is set to have a scan today (Monday) to determine the extent of his knee injury which is feared could be medial knee ligament damage which could keep Salford’s leader out of a action for a few weeks.

New signing Mark Edmondson was taken to hospital in agony after dislocating his left shoulder so badly it could not be put back by the club’s medical team and had to be relocated back into place in hospital.

Edmo will see a specialist tomorrow but has been responding well but depending how much internal damage there is it could see the powerhouse second row being out between one to four months.

Further updates when available.

Cup Game Switched to The Willows

Salford City Reds have been drawn against Gateshead Thunder in the fourth Round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.

The game has now been switched to The Willows on Friday 30 March 8pm as the Thunder’s stadium is unavailable.

Salford City Reds will announce further details and ticket prices early next week.

Fourth-round draw:

Pia v Harlequins
Keighley Cougars v Oldham
Catalans Dragons v Featherstone Rovers
Bradford Bulls v Castleford Tigers
Dewsbury Rams v Sheffield Eagles
Whitehaven v Halifax
Widnes Vikings v Wigan Warriors
Swinton Lions v Barrow Raiders
Leeds Rhinos v Workington Town
London Skolars v Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
St Helens v Batley Bulldogs
Rochdale Hornets v Celtic Crusaders
Huddersfield Giants v York City Knights
Warrington Wolves v Hull Kingston Rovers
Gateshead Thunder v Salford City Reds (at Salford)
Hunslet Hawks v Hull FC

Warrington and Hull KR’s match at the Halliwell Jones Stadium will be shown live on BBC television on 31 March. The other televised tie will be Widnes v Wigan at the Halton Stadium on 1 April.

Watch Channel M Tonight

Make sure you tune into Channel M at 9pm tonight where our sponsor will be launching a “Guess who’s torso this is” competition, with the winner to be revealed on Wednesday.

A member of our game-for-a-laugh football department has got his kit off for the lasses so make sure you are tuned in to Channel M – TV for Manchester later tonight.

All you need to do is recognise the body and you stand a chance of winning a VIP night out at a Reds’ game.