Widnes lost their opening game of a league season for the first time since 2017 against heavily-fancied London Broncos.
The Championship favourites were 1/50 to win the first game of their new era, headed by Australia legend Darren Lockyer and coached by ex-Widnes player Jason Demetriou.
But for the first half at least, Widnes make a mockery of those odds and were arguably unfortunate to not go in level at the break, conceding a try against the run of play late in the first half to Robert Mathias.
London had earlier opened up a 12 point lead in the opening quarter, their ruck speed proving too hot to handle. While Widnes defended well through the middle, they were opened up on the edges as impressive Australian half-back Dean Hawkins broke the tackle of Sam Wilde to scamper over.
The second try came down the same right-hand channel for the Broncos, Alex Max managing to wriggle out of a challenge that had stopped his momentum, yet he still managed to find the extra 10 yards to find the try line.
But Widnes grew in to the game. Jordan Abdull, save for a mishap where he failed to find touch off the back of a much-needed penalty, was crucial in keeping Vikings in the territorial battle as they were often kicking from deep.
And when Jordan Johnstone fought his way over from close range after a first bit of Vikings pressure to score the club’s first try of 2026, Allan Coleman’s side grew in confidence.
Abdull put Wilde over for a try and then kicked a long-range penalty to level the scores at 12-all.
With Widnes in the ascendancy, a high tackle relieved some pressure from the Broncos and they punished that Vikings error in the final minute or so of the half, Hawkins taking on the line and finding an offload for Mathias to get round Matt Fleming.
At 16-12, Widnes were very much in the game at half time but that was all undone in a 15 minute spell early in the second half where the Broncos crossed for four tries.
The first was avoidable, the excellent Lewis Bienek allowed to get the most obvious of offloads away despite a long delay and the ball bounced up for former Australia international Campbell-Gillard to crash over from close range.
Bienek himself then did the same, taking on a tap from a penalty and just powering over Liam Bent to score by the posts.
Elliot Wallis bagged in the left corner off a suspicious looking pass and then makeshift hooker James Meadows snuck over from dummy half on the hour mark as London were at one stage going at a point a minute having scored 22 second half points.
Widnes managed to stem the tide though remained scoreless, conceding a try to Max with six to play to go down 44-12.
Errors prove costly
Any side that is to beat London this season will have to be error free. The Broncos conceded plenty of penalties and yet Widnes couldn’t make the most of it. The first two tries of both halves were particularly avoidable from a Vikings point of view.
Some might question whether the Broncos could have been punished more for their ill-discipline, particularly Campbell-Gillard for a high contact on Mike Butt and a late shot on Nick Gregson, though not sure whether that would have changed the outcome.
The ill-advised short-sided last tackle play the start of the second half was virtually the last time Widnes had any good ball in the match.
Full back dilemma
Matt Fleming started at full-back and had a decent game until an ankle knock forced him off early in the second half, that led to a few moments of uncertainty as Widnes failed to respond to his going off by re-organising. Unfortunately for Jack Owens, a simple dropped catch perhaps showed why he is no longer the pick at full back and Nathan Connell will likely get a shot there next week. Fleming’s in his fifth season at Widnes, has never been the preferred full-back in that time, but a new signing doesn’t seem close, so it might now be his shirt to lose.
Missing impact through the middle
For all London’s off-season signings, it was one of only two survivors from the last meeting of the two sides in the final game of last season that made the telling impact in the second half. Bienek, who did have a stint in Super League but returned to the Broncos as he didn’t want to play full-time due to his career out of the game, put in the sort of rough and tumble, strong running performance that Widnes have seemingly been crying out for for years. Dan Murray and Jay Chapelhow both did a good job in the middle for Widnes from the start, but there was nothing to take that on.
McWhirter missed in the middle, but is that his best position?
Morgan McWhirter showed some nice touches out wide, having been shifted to the second row following the re-shuffle that saw Owens go to full back when Fleming went off. McWhirter has largely been used as a middle during his time at Widnes, with Coleman keen to emphasise the impact his energy has on the side there. But he ran some good lines in the back-row, and it’s a shame that the abundance of options in that position and the lack of middle forwards means he’s unlikely to get a sustained chance there.
Broncos the team to beat
The crowd at the Cherry Red Records was far more significant than any other time Widnes have played there, including the damp squib of the 2022 season opener.
They are favourites for the Championship for a reason and it is hard to see how anyone can shape up enough to stop them.
Their challenge, as ever, will be how they can convince the London public to get behind them, turn out for games and build the fanbase ahead of a likely Super League return for 2027.
Trivia
The last time Widnes lost their opening league game of the season was the 28-16 defeat to Huddersfield in Super League at the start of 2017. They did draw 30-all with Newcastle in 2021.
Widnes started the season against the same team they finished the last one against for the first time since 2018 – the Vikings beat Catalans 40-12 to kick-off the 2018 campaign, having finished the 2017 season with that famous 12-10 win away in Perpignan to secure survival.
There were five changes to the Widnes side that played in the 20-10 defeat to London in September – Tom Gilmore, Rhodri Lloyd, Ben Condon, Lewis Hall and Finlay Irwin replaced by Jordan Abdull, Sam Wilde, Joe Lyons, Jordan Johnstone and Jay Chapelhow. Only two London players featured in both games – Lewis Bienek and Connor O’Beirne.
Match Stats
London Broncos: Morea, Wallis (T), Mathias (T), Max (2T), Tchamambe, O’Beirne, Hawkins (T), Campbell-Gillard (T), Havili, Kapinias, Smith, Croft (5G), Adebiyi. Subs: Meadows (T), Bienek (T), Bitungane, Voro.
Tries: Hawkins (10), Max (19, 74), Mathias (38), Campbell-Gillard (46), Bienek (51), Wallis (56), Meadows (61). Goals: Croft 5/8
Widnes Vikings: Fleming, Butt, Owens, Edge, Ince, Lyons, Abdull (2G), Murray, Johnstone (T), Chapelhow, Wilde (T), Roberts, Gregson. Subs: Fozard, Bent, Bibby, McWhirter.
Tries: Johnstone (24), Wilde (32). Goals: Abdull 2/3
Referee: Tara Jones
Penalty Count: 9-4
