Niall Evalds reveals the reason he is at Salford – Grand Final ref Chris Kendall

NIALL Evalds could be forgiven for shaking the hand of Grand Final referee Chris Kendall and saying, ‘Thank you for everything.’

For the only reason the full-back found himself at the Red Devils is the man in the middle at Old Trafford.

Evalds may have come through the ranks on one side of the Pennines but he is very much from the other.

And before linking up with Salford, he tried his luck at Huddersfield Giants – only to find his path blocked by a better player in his position.

Now they will be sharing the surface in Saturday’s showpiece is just about the most unlikely way possible.

Full-back Evalds, who played stand-off back then, said: “I was trying to get in at Huddersfield but not really getting anywhere.

“I was a half-back back then and Chris was playing in front of me at Huddersfield! He was my rival in the position and I couldn’t get in the team.

“So I decided to go on trial at Salford and played an Under-18s match. I scored a hat-trick and they decided to sign me on.

“But they were my last chance and I was going to give up had they not signed me.”

Evalds, 26, scored one of the tries in the epic comeback that saved Salford just three years ago.

With just 80 seconds of the Million Pound Game at Hull KR, they trailed 18-10 and stared the Championship, even possible extinction, in the face.

But they came through to level it before Gareth O’Brien’s golden point drop goal kept them up.

Evalds admits he does not remember what he was thinking during the ‘mad’ minutes but team-mate Josh Jones certainly does.

Where am I going to play next season?

The former St Helens back-rower, who joins Hull FC next year, admitted: “I 100 per cent thought we’d gone. I had in my mind, ‘Who am I going to sign for now?’

“I was pretty much thinking, ‘I’m going to be playing for someone else.’ I think the majority of the biys were. Talking to them after that game, it was absolute madness.

“Then we pulled something out of the bag and have just kicked on from there. However, I never ever want to experience anything like that again. It was the most stressful thing ever.

“Now I love playing Saints, I always have done since I joined Salford. I was there from the age of 12 until I was 22 and we were always taught to win.

“Hopefully I can replicate that by beating them on Saturday. To beat them at Old Trafford would be outstanding.”

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