Widnes Vikings can confirm that following last week’s Round 1 win at York RLFC Knights, half-back Tom Gilmore has sustained a ruptured pectoral injury.
He will undergo surgery in the coming weeks.
Thats changes thigs 🙁
Can’t underestimate just how big a blow this is.
He was the difference for me between play offs and not.
Missed 1 game in the last 2 seasons and then first game back for us is out for months!
Got to sign a half back now. Craven, unfortunately, can’t be relied upon for the full season
FFS!!! Only at Widnes!!! 🤦♂️
Could be Four to Six months depending on extent and recovery time. a loan halfback is a must now. Lots of fans questioned why no other halfback was recruited but hey ho it is what it is but fans confidence will drop immensley.
We are jinxed need to sign a half back now. Any from down under in the lower league available, or if could loan a winger or 2 out be good? Then hopefully money spare for a half back, especially with Josh Johnson going.
That’s a massive blow to our chances. He’s really looked the part in pre season and on Sunday.
Reynolds leigh or Danny addy salford could be handy both never really play and both in last year of contract?
Massive call for the club now to see how serious they are !! Sign a kid to just get by and they're not serious sign a proven player they'll be taken seriously and the fans will continue to get behind them huge call for the club
How unlucky can you get. Classed as fragile/injury prone while here. Plays virtually 2 years straight for Batley then ruled out for months in our first competitive game!
While disappointing , the rest of squad should view the challenge as an opportunity . We have options - Owen’s can play there , I’m sure Fozard can do a stint , have mentioned before but i do think there’s an argument for ant walker to play half and his display over in York has only strengthened that view. Give Lyons a free role and allow ant to carry when needed as an extra forward and his sleight of hand will do the rest when in attacking positions. It’s clear JK has a massive brain , im sure he’s pondering all options , just hope he can come up with the correct one
A very unfortunate situation, but one which the club must address with either the current squad or with an addition if there is one available. Just a good job CRAVEN is almost ready, and LYONS has done well in the pre-season and at York. He tackles well above his weight and will certainly improve on the offensive under KEAR. Lets see how he and CRAVEN do against Dane CHISHOLM, who is quality himself, albeit at a lower end of the league. At east we have a better forward pack to move around the field this season.....It will be interesting on Sunday..but COYV!!
There's two options - sulk about it and use it as an excuse for defeats or find someone to step up to the plate,either from within or without.
I have researched this injury online & it says 6 to 8 months recovery after surgery so that is virtually the whole season. Very bad luck for the lad after 2 years injury free at Batley then he returns & injured baadly in the first proper game. We did however know prior to Batley his injury record was poor.
Obviously we cannot sign any other half back before Sunday but as others have said we need a good experienced scrum half even if it means paying out a significant sum of money. A teenager or similar from another club is not appropriate if we want to finish in the top 6. far too risky now to just use Jack, Fozzard or any other current squad member long term.
For this weekend at least, Aaron Brown covered a similar spot to JJ in the Sheffield team, iirc.
Jacko certainly knows the moves and we were, only days ago, bragging quietly at how many 'better' full backs we have this season so he maybe Gilly's stand in. Lyons is better than he is rated by our own critics and this is his chance to show it, maybe by the end of set options chosen.
Gilmore is a hard act to follow but I am sure his choice of tactics is shared, at least by Jacko!!
I would try to keep the back line stable tbh, maybe with Dixon at FB?
Certainly Keighley looked underprepared against Fev and won't know what to expect from a new Vikings team sheet. So it's down to us to hit them hard and show everybody (home and away) that we are still a team to be reckoned with. Gale might well try to show that he is better than his show last week and he will need watching.