Grady, who was brought in to coach the side just eleven days before Salford’s opening game, saw positive signs in his cobbled-together team’s loss.
Under the stewardship of newly appointed CEO Ryan Brierley, the club managed to secure 21 signings in the space of eight days leading up to the opening game of the season.
Grady highlighted that many of the players trained together “once, for an hour on Wednesday” ahead of the match and hopes that the side will look more cohesive when they travel to amateur side Hammersmith Hill Hoists in the Challenge Cup second round.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the boys. It was obviously a disappointing result, but they gave 110% effort.
“The occasion was fantastic, I’ve ever experienced anything like that atmosphere before.
“A couple of days ago, we only had about 15 players, and one of them was in doubt. To come and do what we’ve done there tonight was brilliant. We have to kick on from now.
“We’ve got to be smarter going forward in defence and attack. We held a good shape – but we have to do that more consistently.
He added: “The emotion was probably a big factor, to be honest, it spurred the lads on and gave them a little kick they needed during the game.
“As the connections come and the team trains together more, we’ll get better. We had a couple of amateur lads in there today, some loan players and some reserve lads (from the former Salford Red Devils) we had last year.
“But at times we played good rugby, and if I’m completely honest with you, I wanted us to do it more. I just want us to express ourselves and have a good go at every team we play.”
Asked whether the club were looking to bolster their squad and bring in more players as the season progresses, Grady gave a candid response:
“It would be brilliant to pick up two or three more loan players, so we’ll probably keep looking. But it’s tough at the moment, everyone’s got a club. Maybe in a month or so, when the players aren’t playing for other clubs and the Super League starts, then that’s probably an opportunity to bring people in.
“We’ve got to be smarter than a rock, going in defence and attack, and as I say, we’ve thrown to a good shape, we just need to do that a little bit more consistently”
