The Reds capitulated in the second half as Crusaders romped to a convincing win at the Millennium Magic event.
And to add insult to injury debutant Wayne Godwin rounded off an inglorious afternoon when he was sent-off after the hooter for hitting Clinton Shifcofske on the back of the head.
McRae said: “We were pretty sloppy at the start, a bit slow out of the blocks. I thought we did enough by half-time to recover, I thought we put ourselves in a position where we could
compete and contest.
“But the second-half was pretty embarrassing really. I couldn’t understand it, four tries in 13 minutes against us. It is a bit hard to come up with reasons for that.
“We prepared okay. They played all right, but I don’t think they were outstanding. They just did enough to beat us.”
McRae said he would need time before speaking to Godwin about his late rush of blood.
The former Wigan and Bradford hooker will now face a disciplinary hearing this week and is likely to be handed a ban.
Godwin got involved after Shifcofske reacted angrily to what he felt was a late challenge from Chris Nero.
Salford had already been without Godwin’s fellow front rowers Ryan Boyle and Ray Cashmere due to suspension.
It was a punch, which may have impressed one-time boxer and Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke, who was watching from the stands, but did not endear him to his new boss.
McRae added: “I haven’t spoken to him. I’m probably not in the best mood to be talking to him yet. What he did is clearly not something we would encourage from anyone. I’m a bit disappointed by Wayne and what he has done.”
Even with three players stranded in Australia awaiting visas, the Wrexham club were far too good for a Reds team that began promisingly enough but deteriorated alarmingly after the break.
On his first Super League appearance since June, Michael Witt quickly made up for lost time by sending 21-year-old debutant winger Rhys Williams over for the game’s first try after only two minutes and then dummying his way over for his first on 16 minutes.
In between, Salford’s Daniel Holdsworth slipped through the Crusaders defence for a try and added the goal, but the Welshmen opened up a 16-6 lead when Reardon grabbed his first try, a somewhat fortuitous score, the ball rebounding into his arms from a tackle on team-mate Tony Martin.
Full-back Luke Patten, one of five debutants, opened his account for the Reds, racing onto Matty Smith’s perfectly-judged grubber kick on the last tackle, and Holdsworth’s second conversion cut the gap to just four points but that was as good as it got for McRae’s men.
Schifcofske nudged his side further ahead on the stroke of half-time with a 40-metre penalty and they cut loose in a one-sided second half.
Jarrod Sammut scored with a weaving run out of his own half, second rower Jason Chan then showed his strength to force his way over for his side’s fourth try on 53 minutes, and five minutes later Witt went through a yawning gap in the Salford defence for his second.
As Salford crumbled, Witt completed his hat-trick and Reardon grabbed his second.
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An absoloute disgrace this performance...again.
McCrae and more importantly Simms are the two who are responsible for coaching and tactics and as yet none of these were present yesterday,what do the do between games. No motivation,no defence,no heart and no clue. I said it before McCrae is not the man for Salford and is more interested in his media work and Simms is a milking salford dry. Change is needed now before we lose any more ground on the top 6.
McCrae out
second half performance was awful.
We didn't seem able to make enough yards with the ball when in possession.
All we do is get the ball a run, theres not enough passing with the ball and i can't remember any offloads in the tackle.
Crusaders were trying new and different approaches in their game with the short kicks,. yeat when we went behind we didnt change our game play at all.
Long kicks from kick offs, running straight into tackles and the losing discipline at the end. But at least Godwin showed some desire and fight when doing what he did, i didnt see any expression on mcraes face through out that game when the camera zoomed in on him.
HERE WE GO AGAIN,SAME OLD, SAME OLD.WHAT A DISAPOINTMENT AGAIN.CANT SEE US BEATING ANY ANY TEAM WITH THAT KIND OF DISPLAY.IF THE CLUB WANT SUCCESS I THINK IT HAS GOT TO BE MCREA AND SIMS OUT AND BRIAN NOBLE IN. MCREA HAS NOT DONE ANY BETTER THAN CARL HARRISON DID EXEPT THAT HARRISON WAS FAR BETTER COACHING DEFENCE.WHATS THE CHANCE OF FINISHING FIFTH PLACE LIKE WE DID WITH HARRISON?.IF NOBLE IS AVAILABLE WE SHOULD TRY AND SIGN HIM BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
Woeful display - we could not defend our line and conceeded points at an alarming rate. Our play the ball was so slow - if you noticed the difference between the two sides they were making yardage for fun because they were much quicker. Tactically we were a shambles....mcrae has embarrased this club for long enough not good enough at the top level - LEAVE NOW.
ive said it time and time again....Macrae is a JOKE..they laugh at him in australia..they KNOW hes a joke..His teams dont lose they get battered ..40 + every week..oz and now here..Please listen..he has to go...he is always smiling and praising the opposition..this is for two reasons...1 to take the pressure of him and 2..because he hasnt a clue..how has he been left here for so long after all the results.???The players get stuck and on occasions have a great win,but thats not Macraes coaching...he is a complete waste of time..dont think he has a clue just coz he coached in oz..they know hes useless
disgusting. crusaders. this is a team with a coach who has very little experience. and they crush salford. get noble now. and to the person who say's noble did nothing . a dam siight more than mcrae has ever done for salford
Mr Wilkinson it is time to stop being a perfecr employer and get tough with Sims and MCrae,get them out before we lose the franchise,the squad and the fans.
Type your comment here...
this display wasn't just bad, it was a disgrace and against a team that has been totally up against it (financial issues, new coach etc).
What would have happened against one of the really top teams, one dreads to think.
Is there really any improvement since Harrison left?
After pre-season miserable results and even after one SL game, its not too early to say the management team have to go before another season has gone,
to say this after one game is so sad but its just continuos these abject capitulations and all you get is - McRae was embarrassed. Well so are the fans !!!!!
At Noon yesterday, like all Salford fans, I was full of hope for the season. This is the first season in decades that I have been optimistic of winning more games than we lose. The club, Mr Wilkinson in particular, has made enormous efforts to put together a squad of players capable of lifting Salford several places up the Super League table and challenging for a play-off spot. There is a continuing huge effort through the media to raise the club's profile during the final season at The Willows so that we can move to the new stadium, hopefully, on the crest of a wave attracting new fans and increasing the club's fanbase to satisfy Super League licensing criteria.
By the end of the game, that hope for the new season was all but extinguished. There were reasons for the defeat. We had 5 first team players missing due to suspension and injury. We hardly had any ball during a game controlled from beginning to end by a team of players of less illustrious stature than those opposing them. It will take time for the defence to gel but there is no excuse for some players' attitude in their defensive roles. We looked like we were running through treacle for most of the game.
We will need to improve immensely on a short turnaround to present St Helens with any kind of challenge on Friday ...............
The club should bear in mind one truism. To attract fans, to attain and maintain the numbers of fans the club needs at the new stadium, the club must be successful on the pitch or, at the very least, play attractive football ................ after 80 minutes of the season, this looks a long way away .................
Insipid, unimaginative and a lack of desire. Players seem to turn up and walk around in a daze. What Godwin did was inexcusable but at least he showed some fire in his belly. Take note Salford and play for each other. There seems no desire to win but to just turn up and take the wages. McCrae needs to go and if he had any morals he would resign admitting he he can't take Salford any further. Wilkinson deserves more as do the fans. Come on John, grow some balls and get rid of this Aussie waster. Time is running out.........
Salford are developing a habit of not showing up for games. Either it stops or heads must fall. For too long we have tolerated excuses after losing efforts. We don't expect wins vs the top 4 or 5 teams , we look to close losses. But against the rest the reds should win a good share or they will face oblivion. There is a serious lack of discipline and grit and ideas! They appear to be a team that lacks incentive and that is where the coach comes in. Perform or let someone else do the job! Torred
Type your comment here...Mcrae out and take father ted with you. Brian noble in.
At Fridays match when the Salford team comes onto the pitch all the Salford fans need to turn there backs and show JW how we all feel about SM and SS get them out now before it is to late.
McCrae OUT
I must agree with most of the comments posted by Trevor Walker except that most of my pre-season optimism had gone before I took my seat at Cardiff. The evidence that little had changed with the new faces was apparent during the friendly matches, not least the match against Swinton who I felt at times gave us a lesson on how passing the ball through several pairs of hands in the same direction can yield results and can be attractive to watch.I have never been one to cry 'sack the manager' but it is fairly obvious that the coaching set up has to change if Salford are to progress
New players,same coach same results. McCrea cannot coach teams to win but he is an expert at coaching them to lose. They come out expecting to lose. where is the spirit ,the will to win? It is not there as McRae does not have it and does not know how to instill it into his players. Salford should be a team of players with pride in themselves and in the club and willing to go onto the field to battle for each other and come off at the end with a satisfying win or satisfaction that they gave 100% effort . All this starts with the coach but unfortunately Salford do not have the right coach.
We all agree that Wilkinson deserves better but unless he does something then he will get will get what he deserves for doing nothing.
what he deserves
McRae stated "We prepared okay" so you only prepared the team "okay" , you are the coach, is preparing "okay" good enough for you, is it "okay" that the fans are disheartened after 1 game of the new season, is it "okay" to be made to look embarassing, void of ideas, lacklustre, and at times downright pathetic, i wonder if Celtic prepared "okay" i doubt it because after serving an apprentiship of just 1 year Iyestin looked like he had been taught well, i wonder under who was his mentor in that 1 year apprentiship, oh yes it was Brian Noble. I said on here over 12 months ago as soon as he lost the Wigan job ( unfairly in my view ) that the reds should cut thier losses now ( as it is banded about that it will cost too much money to get rid of mcrae due to his contract ) get shut of Mcrae and bring Noble in - how much further down the line would we be be now if Nobby had been in charge - further than we are now im certain - do the honourable thing Mr Mcrae and resign without any monetary gain, you have had a good run in the job and earned some decent dollar we are no better now than we were 5 years ago 0161 get lost do one !
If we know the coach is inadequate don't you think the players do! My point being that I think the team as a whole has very little guidance from above and because of that are going it alone on the field.
Taking from everyone's posts/topics on here we can all agree they look as a team : disjointed - flat - dominated - lost - ill disciplined - unfit - and mentally unhappy. This isn't a team. It's a collection of players. Some good some average.
I,m sick of saying it, McRae out. He's a joke with no idea about rugby league. There's ameoba on Mars with more idea on the game than this fat useless Aussie. Forget the new stadium, stay at the Willows with Swinton as we will be playing them in the league very soon if this clown is still in charge. How many more times must we suffer these embarassements, especially at the Magic week-ends? So much hope for the new season disintigrates in 80 minutes.
Alicante Red
One of these days a club executive will come to the following conclusions,
Australians are not the answer, then and only then will things change.
An English coach, short term player contracts to take away complacency, local juniors promoted and encouraged, football savy directors and club secretaries on performace based employement terms. And last of all a working relationship with the amateur game in the locality.
This is the only way to go if you truely want the club and the game in general to prosper.
Richard Lewis is a large part responcible for this current model, that he unashamidly says is a copy of the English Football League. 1966 was the last time we won the World Cup, and every English football team in the competitionis a league of nations.
We need a revolution, How about starting with the Reds.
woke up tues mcrae not gone. sick. sick for all loyal salford fans
Yes salford were crap theres no getting away from that. But no one is saying how good crusadera were! Short kick-offs and short kicks from under the posts were brilliant pieces of play! They even swapped sides when feka came on. With 10+ overseas players they were only ever going to get better. They even had 'jack sparrow' on the bench who is a fantastic player. Harris put tactics that 'trusted' his players to pull off, if it did'nt work first time they just tried it again. It's something Mcrea did against St Helens last year, Holdsworth + Smith played 'off the cuff' rugby and saints could'nt cope. That game Mcrea found a tactic that worked and we should be using over and over again.
Sorry Mr Mcrea but you've really got to sort it out starting with friday. At least we need a proformance to take to Wakefield and 'WIN'. I don't want noble as coach, he was lined up as Brian Smiths numbers 2 in oz last season and all but Smith don't want him. Would ask him to work with us for 4wks, see if he can improve us in anyway. Same goes with any other out of work coach/ex player. As for next head coach, Ian Millward/Robbie Hunter-Paul combo or Daniel Anderson/Andy Duneman combo. Jon Cartright as head coach would be a long shot but would like to see a ex-halfback come in as a tactics/skills coach. Lets all get behind all the lads come friday!!!!
Gutted after the shambles against Crusaders. It's easy to agree with a lot of the comments and feelings posted! However I don't think that we should cut McRae after one game though! This is his team now, and the first real time he's had a bit of money to spend on what on paper looked like decent players. Give him a chance to coach them! I think we've got to give him at least five games, and if the same rubbish as Sunday is served up, especially the 2nd half, then get rid! I am concerned, but if we cut him now, whoever else comes in will have another mans players, and such disruption at this stage of the season would not be healthy for the club!
I also agree with Klassman. Crusaders played some nice rugby. Easy on the eye!
I'm gonna stick my neck out and say we'll beat Saints on Friday!! I'll probably regret saying it! I don't mind if we lose, as long as there's effort and pride on show! Come on you Reds!
Another issue is that whilst John Wilkinson has done "bare minimum" to keep the club solvent for the past 29 years, he has not really been ambitious as his predecessor was, Snape.
There are too many people with their head in the sands to protect JW that they fail to want a better standard!
The only time the club I remember "going for it" was some of the record signings in 1988! Since then buggerall!