With seemingly SL a distant thought these days, the Club should be aiming to be the best in the Championship. Ignoring London and York Reserves, we are currently behind the likes of Oldham and Doncaster. The fixtures this year skew the league, but we are probably on a par with Sheffield and Barrow. Maybe next year, we may possibly see a return of Featherstone and a relegated Huddersfield and maybe improvements in fortunes at Salford and Halifax..
It is no good the Club moaning about "losing" money on the salary cap. We are probably still in a better position on the cap at clubs with less support. Is there potential to sign a marquee player like Ben Condon or even bring in a few young Australians looking to make a name for themselves or even bring in a young local player with SL potential from the amateur ranks. Anything to generate interest from fans and potential fans, as well as to improve the squad.
My questions to the Board are:
1. Have they still got ambition to get into SL and, if so, what timeframe are they working to. Albeit, I guess that the RFL are still working on the back of a fag packet on the long term structure of the game or probably even next season! In this respect, what demands have made of the RFL by Championship Clubs like Widnes, to sort out the fixture list mess for next year and the future for teams outside SL?
2. We are continuously being told that the Club is in a good financial position and that we will be held back on player investment next year only because of the salary cap. Whilst I am sure that like any ambitious Club, we will be looking at ways around the salary cap, what plans do the Club have to utilise any "surplus" funds not spent on the playing squad, assuming we retain the same level of support and sponsorship. The suggestion that we have got rid of the General Manager post on financial grounds does not seem to indicate a sound financial position at the Club.