Silly season has struck at Widnes once again in the middle of the year, with Liam Kirk the latest player to go out the exit door.
He quickly follows team-mate Martyn Reilly in departing the DCBL Stadium, the two having previously shared the travelling to and from Yorkshire.
In Reilly’s defence, his exit was the call of coach Allan Coleman, who was seeking to refresh his pack and told the former Batley man he wasn’t part of his plans. He has since rocked up at Sheffield, while Kirk has joined League One club Midlands Hurricanes, who will be in contention for promotion to the Championship at the end of the year.
Midlands train in Huddersfield and so Kirk will only need to travel to Midlands on match day, and there are plenty – if not all – of their players who are based in Yorkshire. There is plenty of time to play a bit of Jackpot Casino Mobile on that journey.
Coleman said: “I spoke with Liam after Martyn Reilly left the club, obviously they were travelling partners coming over from Leeds.
“So it was a massive commitment for him to do solo, and he felt he was going to struggle doing that journey on his own.
“It was a difficult conversation, but I really appreciate his honesty, he’s been great for us, and more than anything, he’s a really good person.”
Better the devil you know
For Widnes, it highlights the poor moves made in 2023 when a number of homegrown players were forced out of the door as part of new ‘Head of Operations’ Chris Hamilton flexing his muscles, something that also caused the departure of John Kear after a run of poor results.
Out went Owen Farnworth, who had been Players’ Player of the Year the previous season, and Adam Lawton, two players who had been regular starters for the Vikings after both coming through the club’s academy.
While Lawton’s exit was the call of Coleman, the departure of Farnworth was a disappointing one. He should have been the cornerstone of Widnes’ pack for many years, and the sort of player that Yorkshire clubs simply wouldn’t let go of. Think James Brown at Batley.
Whatever your opinion on Lawton, he gets in to the Widnes 17 now. He had his best times under the coaching of Simon Finnigan, and while there are flaws to his game, if there wasn’t, he would be playing for a top Super League club such is his talent and his attributes.
Lawton featured on loan from current club Oldham at London last week, receiving a perhaps harsh sinbinning late on after getting in to a couple of late skirmishes. With Oldham without a game this weekend, you would assume that Lawton will be available again for Widnes against Halifax, especially following the exit of Kirk.
There has been talk of Farnworth returning to Widnes for 2026 – last week he played on dual-registration for Rochdale, having been forced out of the Oldham team by the arrival of ex-Warrington front-rower Zane Musgrove following his hasty departure from the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Threadbare squad gets even thinner
The concern coming out of the Kirk exit announcement is that it appears there are no replacements yet lined up.
Widnes had been in discussions with a middle from Australia, even prior to the arrival of Morgan McWhirter, and he is thought to still be a possible option for this year and next, and a lot will likely depend on what players can be brought in for the 2026 season.
However, the recruitment struggles highlight just how important it is to bring through your own players and look after them.
The player pool continues to diminish, and if you’re letting go of players who you know are local, then it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find capable replacements.
The squad should be built around a core of local players, and then the recruitment then becomes about finding some quality additions to go round them. Someone like Lawton might be your first choice, unless you are able to persuade someone better to come in, in which case Lawton remains in the squad but as a back-up.
With only Widnes and Oldham this side of the Pennines, admittedly Oldham’s coin is a big lure, Widnes should be putting themselves in to a strong position to recruit. The position of North Wales Crusaders is an interesting one – they might become competition for players, as we saw with Sam Wilde, though there are noises that maybe their money is drying up following a change of ownership.
The worry for Widnes for 2025 is that the squad appeared threadbare as it was – and more players have left than arrived even since. With three crucial home games coming up, the wrong results may have everyone looking nervously over their shoulders at the bottom four – and a potential meeting with Kirk’s Hurricanes – and a fight against relegation.
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