Salford shrugged off the absence of their suspended half-back Rangi Chase to move a step closer to preserving their Super League status in the Super 8s.

The Red Devils suspended Chase on Thursday and also confirmed the departure of their head coach, Iestyn Harris, the day before, but they were still able to rack up nine tries and ultimately prove to be too good for a Halifax side who have yet to win in The Qualifiers and are now increasingly likely to be in the Championship next year.

All of Salford’s back three, the Halifax-born Niall Evalds, Ben Jones-Bishop and Greg Johnson, scored hat-tricks as they adapted well to life without Chase, who faces a meeting at the club this next week to determine his future.

“It’s not been ideal preparation,” said the acting Salford head coach, Ian Watson. “You want people pulling in the right direction, but thankfully most of the boys have been really good in the way they’ve prepared.”

Salford looked in complete control at the break when they led 22-6, but to their credit Halifax fought back well after the restart to threaten their Super League rivals. Evalds would complete his hat-trick on 49 minutes but tries from Scott Murrell, James Saltonstall and Jacob Fairbank reduced the deficit to six.

But after the Halifax defence allowed Jones-Bishop to sprint the length of the field the winger then completed his hat-trick seven minutes later to seal the result after Johnson had got his second following another breakaway play from the Red Devils.

Salford’s ninth and Johnson’s third followed four minutes later, before Halifax at least managed to have the final say when the prop Adam Tangata charged over.

“I’m very proud of them, but I have been all season,” the Halifax coach, Richard Marshall, said. “There were just a couple of key moments which changed the game, and that was the difference.”