Banditt goes straight into contention as Widnes travel to Halifax looking to return to winning ways
After a much needed break for Allan Colemans team, the Vikings return to action as Widnes travel to Halifax Panthers. The weeks break come timely following an heroic effort in a 42-36 defeat against London Broncos.
The Vikings battled bravely throughout and certainly left their mark on the Broncos, who held on to take the two points back to the capital.
Attention now turns to this weeks opponents Halifax Panthers, who currently sit second bottom in the league table. The Panthers league position can be considered false, following the clubs points deduction, due to their well documented financial issues in the past 12 months.
Halifax have currently registered 8 league wins, which would have them sitting in 12th position if it wasn’t for the clubs points deduction, however in recent weeks their squad has been tested to the limit only naming 16 available players for their 28-20 defeat to Barrow Raiders.
Widnes currently sit 6th in the Championship league table, however a victory on Sunday would propel Widnes back to 5th position on points difference, entering the final stages of the season with valuable momentum.
Widnes team news
New signing Max Banditt is in line to make his debut for the club after putting pen to paper on a deal that will keep him at Widnes until at least the end of the 2027 campaign.
Centre Jumah Sambou returns to fitness after spending a lengthy spell on the sidelines, he replaces Joe Edge who suffered a serious arm injury against London. Nathan Wilde has also been recalled by parent club Leigh Leopards.
Morgan McWhirter is recovering well from his injury and could yet still feature before the season concludes.
Liam Bent is also recovering well and is in a race against time to be back in contention before the end of the season.
Jack Owens will complete his suspension and will return to selection against Workington Town next weekend.
How Halifax shape up
Halifax enter this weekends game in mixed form winning two out of the last five Championship games. Comprehensive victories came against Swinton Lions and Dewsbury Rams, whilst the Panthers fell to defeat against Oldham, Sheffield Eagles and Barrow Raiders.
After only naming 16 fit players including Winger Riley Thompson on the bench to take on Barrow, Halifax welcome back Ben Crooks and Lloyd Roby in hope of fielding a full 17 matchday squad.
It has been a long season for Halifax following well documented financial challenges and for the most part of the season fielding a team has proved difficult.
Challenges won’t come much tougher than this week as Allan Colemans troops will smell blood, as they look to take the two Championship points back to Widnes.
One to watch (Alfie Johnson)
The young cross code star is remembered by most Widnes supporters as the player who slipped over the dead ball line without grounding the ball in the Vikings 26-16 Challenge Cup defeat against Warrington back in 2025.
Despite his moment to forget last year, Johnson has earned himself a move back to Super League with Castleford Tigers for the 2027 season after a number of impressive performances at The Shay.
Destructive ball in hand and a threat in the air, Johnson has 13 tries in 13 appearances for Halifax, including four tries in the defeat against Barrow Raiders, highlighting his threat and danger.
His tally is impressive in a team that has desperately struggled to field a team for the majority of the 2026 campaign.
Halifax will look to feed Johnson early ball to exploit the Vikings defence out wide with his power and speed. If Halifax are to overcome the Vikings you can guarantee Johnson will be at the heart of the Panthers performance.
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