The season came to a lacklustre end for Widnes following a below par 20-10 home defeat against London Broncos. The result capped off a disappointing season for the Vikings who finished in 7th place, 4 points outside the play-offs.
Recruitment for the 2025 season has proved to be a contributing factor in the Vikings failings.
McKenzie Buckley, Adam Jones, Cameron Brown and Reagan Sumner all failed to make a league appearance, whilst Brett Bailey only managed a 10 minute cameo appearance off the bench in a home game against Barrow Raiders.
Back-Row signing Ryan Lannon departed the club mid season whilst Dec Patton and Gav Bennion have not had their contracts renewed for 2026. Finally Lewis Hall has only managed 8 competitive games for the club after an injury hit season.
The lack of success in the transfer market at the start of the season left the Vikings fighting against the tide once injuries hit the squad. An already thin squad was made thinner and performances was impacted as a result.
Mid season recruits Jack Bibby, Adam Lawton, Morgan McWhirter and Ben Condon had a much more positive impact, but despite their best efforts Widnes had a mountain to climb to secure a top six finish.
Speaking after the London clash head coach Allan Coleman highlighted the need to add more depth to his squad ahead of next season.
He went onto say “I think we need to bring in four or five, we are speaking to all them players now, we certainly need another middle, another Half-Back, another Winger and possibly a nine stroke ball playing thirteen.”
“We have highlighted this year when we have had injuries we just haven’t been strong enough, the squad depth hasn’t been strong enough.”
“The loan players that have come in have been superb, but we need to be stronger as a group, the top six don’t tell lies five of the clubs probably have the biggest squads so next year we need to run with a bigger and healthier squad.”
To listen to the full interview tune into this weeks Widnes Rugby Chat Podcast which will be released later this week.
