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Excited by all of the transfer talk

31/ 7/2008

MALCOLM ALKER COLUMN: "I HAVE endured my fair share of miserable days having been a Salford player for the last 11 years – so I am determined to make the most of this purple patch.

The camp is really buzzing at the moment. We are top of League One with the Northern Rail Cup already in the bank and have a return to Super League to look forward to no matter what. And to cap things off, the sun has finally made an appearance this summer.

It has been great to see all of the smiling faces at our sun-baked training sessions this week. Gaining the Super League licence has taken a huge weight off us players’ shoulders.

You could see that from the way we played against Leigh. They are a good side and they came into the game in good form. But we brushed them aside in the second half and it was great to be a part of the open and flowing rugby on show.

The result took us four points clear at the top of the table and we have the chance to extend that to seven points when we play at second-placed Halifax tonight, Thursday, July 31. That would all but secure the league leaders’ title as there will only be three games left to play after the Halifax match – and we are fully focused on not to let this opportunity pass us by.

We may be a lot more relaxed than we were before the licensing verdicts were announced but that does not mean that our desire to win trophies has in any way waned. Also, there are lots of players here fighting for contracts for next year. And those players, like myself, who are already signed up for 2009 want to finish the season strongly to lessen the chances of players being brought in for their positions.

Predictably, Salford are being linked with every Tom, Dick and Harry (and even Paul Sculthorpe) for next season. It is exciting reading all of the names in the press knowing that, with a three-year Super League licence in the bag, the majority of them are realistic targets.

Salford are now a great draw for top players. We have already signed an Aussie prop with a great reputation in Ray Cashmere and, with canny operators like coach Shaun McRae and director of football Steve Simms pulling the strings, I am sure there will be other big name arrivals in due course.

But I don’t think we need as many new players as some people seem to think. We have a lot of players here who are good enough to shine in Super League next year. Anyone who saw the Leigh win on Friday will know that!"