All the talk of the playing budget being the same next year according to CH: it may well be the same but given inflation/insurance bills etc it won't go as far.
None of the purported signings get the pulse racing, but they seem to my knowledge be the better players at the bottom end clubs: remember 2 years ago we signed Bent, Ince and Dupree from relegated Oldham and they were all solid signings....although obviously we never got the benefit of Dupree's qualities.
I feel the league could be really close next year: just look how relatively close the league is from Sheffield in 3rd to York in 9th now...it would be negligence to just settle next year....we still have the last Viqi payment and even in another average year we have averaged high 2000s: in a good year we would average easily over 3000 which ticks that box.
Over to the club.....6 poor seasons in a row and counting.....
Disappointing that whilst this has arguably been our best season since relegation we still aren’t going to be good enough to make the play offs.
Allan Coleman has a tough job on his hands, just how tough can’t really be assessed until we have a better idea of the full squad he will have to work with but we are asking him to get better results with the same budget. Hopefully we manage to unearth a couple of gems when putting the squad together.
Don't care we need to spend if want to be competitive in this division and fans will not renew season tickets if get a bang average squad again. Results and performances get people to games not the dire performances this year. If they want to tick the 3k box they definitely need a better team and players with good attitudes. Players rumored are not a statement of intent.
I have never been a fan of very tall rugby league forwards,even Graeme West who is a Kiwi NZ great.That physique doesn't suit the game.Sure the twins rumours crops up every year. As much as a positive person I am and giving people a chance I would be fuming if them pair came back
the suggested names won’t fill anyone with confidence and rightly so. The club need to be honest with fans about what is going on, get the crap sorted in house, that is one of the only ways to keep fans supporting. There is only so much fans can take before they decide to do something else with their Sunday afternoon.
the suggested names won’t fill anyone with confidence and rightly so. The club need to be honest with fans about what is going on, get the crap sorted in house, that is one of the only ways to keep fans supporting. There is only so much fans can take before they decide to do something else with their Sunday afternoon.
Oh stop whinging for god's sake
the suggested names won’t fill anyone with confidence and rightly so. The club need to be honest with fans about what is going on, get the crap sorted in house, that is one of the only ways to keep fans supporting. There is only so much fans can take before they decide to do something else with their Sunday afternoon.
Agree we need the owners to open up more with fans as we can help too. Success breeds more fans, and we need to change things with positive feedback like a fans meeting once a month? Then ask questions in a constructive manner. 💪🥖🥖
@cuerdley-viking there’s a difference between my genuine concern for my club and it’s future to your idiotic pathetic comments and and your boring joke from a few months ago about a funbus that didn’t catch on yet you continued to post it everytime.
@cuerdley-viking there’s a difference between my genuine concern for my club and it’s future to your idiotic pathetic comments and and your boring joke from a few months ago about a funbus that didn’t catch on yet you continued to post it everytime.
chill out mate for goodness sake
I wonder who we have lined up for the front row for next season
with farnworth Lawton rumored to be leaving and Grady retiring I hope we are looking at 2 big aggressive props and 2 aggressive hard working second rowers. Some of the players we have are decent but our backs can’t do much behind a beaten pack.
Absolutely right, a pack bossing the game is the starting point. We have tried with classy backs but they can't flourish behind a beaten pack.
They don't have to be 'names' but they do have to have enough energy to play for 80 minutes!!!
The sooner we have the leavers confirmed the better tbh, then we can get on with the new crew. We have to trust Coleman and NB to pick lads who want to progress at this level and give them our backing.
Those leaving for a lower placed club have given an indication that they have had enough of trying to climb up the league and seemed to have settled for cash and an easier life. A last flourish on Sunday, before leaving, will be just rubbing our noses in it!
The player pool is tiny, so it's an own goal losing some of the better quality players because just where are replacements coming from? Swinton (relegation zone) and Crusaders (League 1). Not saying that you can't find good players from those teams that will add to and improve an existing squad, but not as a wholesale replacement.
The likes of Lloyd, Brooks etc would have been good additions alongside Lawton, Farnworth etc; as replacements, not so much.
We started the season very well (won 6 out of 9, would have been 8 out of 9 if not for two last minute losses). We've ended the season reasonably well (won 6 out of 8).
There was a significant blip in the middle that has proved costly, about around the time that players had to be informed of contract plans for 2024. I don't see a great deal of difference in the coaching before and after the blip, still playing in a relatively similar way. Completing sets, kicking to turnover in right areas.
Could have been much different.
James.
And that mid season blip upsets steady teams, as it did ours. I just cannot see the sense of a system which prompts, even requires, clubs and players to spending an inordinate amount of playing season time debating and discussing who is going to be playing where NEXT YEAR when they have hardly played this year!!!!
It takes over the game!! You could just persuade potential ST purchasers to keep their money in their pockets until mid season to see who might be staying in the squad.
I take your point regarding the player pool but players do travel from West to East so there must be some prepared to travel the other way?
Even within our own little world I wonder just how much more pay persuades players to be prepared to traipse up to, say Oldham, and back twice a week after work?
It's not a 'fun run' and I can't think just how much I would do that for!
I have a theory that you get, at best, five years of a players top effort, probably starting at 20/21. He plays mainly for the thrill of actually playing and improving. After five years, with his social life probably changing, partner, kids etc, the actual pay starts to become the more of the reason for playing. He will know how to play and not throw himself totally into the physicality of it but not stand out as idling.
To some players the game will always be the reason to play and they show it on the field.
I can remember Vinty's retirement, he was still an imposing player and many urged him to play on. His response was that he could still feel the bruises after a week and that stopped him playing at his best, and that wasn't good enough for him.
Would that others had the same self-imposed standards.
The stark reality is until one of us wins the Euro Millions, we'll remain in this cycle; swapping coaches every two years and chopping and changing players regularly in the hope of finding a winning formula. As mentioned, there aren't many players to choose from. We aren't in the market for FT players, we can't expect PT players to drive over from Yorkshire 3 times a week after a day's work, and that's where most of the player pool is.
London's owner reckons he has put £20M into the club, even Wigan and Saints are losing £1M a year. We need a loaded fan who's happy to throw money away, a FT time and some proper Administrators focused on moving the club forward. And only then can we harbour SL ambitions. In the meantime, competing in the Championship, enjoying a play-off run, these should be the expectations.
It's up to your good selves as to whether you spend Sunday watching and supporting the team or not.
@gpo1971 You may well be right, but not all SL clubs have a wealthy benefactor on board or big crowds; and are relying mainly on grabbing the lion's share of the Sky money to keep going.
As said, the problem is finding someone to invest in a Championship Club like Widnes, to enable us to be competitive in the Championship; and a chance of promotion to SL and access to more central funding. Will we or other clubs in the Championship, ever be able to compete with the likes of Featherstone/Toulouse/Wakefield? and maybe London, who are able to build full-time squads, attract SL standard players; and develop local talent?