Widnes Vikings welcome Featherstone Rovers in a mouth-watering clash in the race for the Championship top six
Widnes host Featherstone at the DCBL Stadium in hope of going 7 points clear of their opponents in the hunt for a top six finish. Both teams have had their struggles of late with Widnes winning one of the last five games, meanwhile visitors Featherstone languish down in 11th place with just 4 points on the board as far.
Very few would have had Featherstone in that position of the table at the start of the season with the wealth of talent they have at their disposal. Head coach James Ford departed the club as a consequence of their below par start to the season. It is now former Hull and Hull Kr man Paul Cooke who has picked up the reigns to steer the club north of the table.
Speaking ahead of the clash Paul added “it will be full blooded, they are in a similar situation as us fighting against some injuries, it will be two desperate teams and we have to be more desperate than them it is as simple as that.”
As for Widnes they enter the game off the back of a victory away at strugglers Hunslet, the first in five matches. The Vikings looked more fluent ball in hand and was boosted by the return of last years player of the season Jordan Johnstone.
A player frustrated by missing 7 months of action, Johnstone will be relishing this type of challenge in front of the home supporters.
Speaking ahead of the action he said “they are down towards the bottom of the table but they have a squad that shouldn’t be anywhere near that position, they are a good side who beat York a few weeks ago and we all know how good York are, we won’t be taking them lightly at all, hopefully we can put on a show for our home fans with the break coming up.”
Speaking on his own circumstances Johnstone added “I’ve missed it, it killed me to be honest especially the Warrington game at home I just wanted to be out there, the crowd was unbelievable, they always turn out in the numbers for us so it will be good to pull on the strip and get out there in front of them again.”
Heading into a weeks break after the Featherstone game, a win for Widnes would do wonders for momentum and would put them right in the mix for tussling for a top six spot. Furthermore would potentially put a 5 point gap between themselves and the team below depending on results elsewhere.
Widnes Squad Update
A welcomed boost for Widnes sees Matt Fleming return to the Vikings match day squad following his Hamstring injury. If selected it will be likely he will slot back in at Full Back to add more pace into the back line. It will likely see Joe Edge return to Centre along with Jack Owens, a duo that will provide threat out wide in attack.
Max Roberts makes an unexpected return to the squad although it is likely it could be a week to early to enter action.
Mike Butt drops out of the squad due to a deep cut suffered in the final stages at Hunslet. The fans favourite will likely return to action after the weeks break in fixtures due to the 1895 cup semi final fixtures.
Widnes welcome duel registration duo James Duffy and Ewan Smith as extra options for Allan Coleman to select from. Duffy will likely compete with Rhys Williams for the Wing spot on the right whilst Smith will provide competition for Danny Langtree and Rhodri Lloyd in the back row.
Jordan Johnstone will likely make his first home appearance of the season adding steel in defence, whilst new recruits Jake Maizen and Morgan McWhirter remain unavailable this week.
How strong are Featherstone?
After the bye weekend Featherstone enter action welcoming back a number of players with Paul Cooke commenting “for the first time in a while we have a number of positions where we have battles going on for selection.”
Jack Arnold misses out after pulling out midweek and Gadwin Springer remains suspended for Rovers, however powerful ball carrier King Vuniyayawa returns to add size to the forward pack.
Brad Day remains side-lined for a couple more weeks due to an Elbow injury. Toby Boothroyd is in line to make an appearance for Featherstone, The Australian earned promotion with Wakefield last season and is a big threat close to the line with the angles he can run.
Young star Noah Booth remains at Hull KR for the clash, the pacey Centre has been a standout prospect in the championship so far this season. Household name Carlos Tuimavave remains side-lined with a long term injury.
One to watch
Since arriving at the club Ryan Hampshire has had quite the impact. Featherstone lost Thomas Lacans to Toulouse and Australian signing Zac Herring to an early release from his contract due to personal reasons. Since then it has been Ryan Hampshire that has partnered Ben Reynolds in the halves a complete new pairing than what was planned at the start of the year.
The 30 year old has had a rough few years with injuries, however since arriving at Featherstone he looks as sharp as ever. His dynamite running game seems to be back and Featherstone look a more balanced team across the pitch with him in it.
Featherstone have picked up two wins from four games since his arrival with the versatile Half-back scoring one try so far. He was instrumental in the shock 24-22 win against York a few weeks ago and helped Featherstone put in spirited performances in defeat against Toulouse and Oldham.
Hampshire’s electric pace off the mark and ability to step back inside in an instant will no doubt be attributed Widnes will have to be prepared for if they are to come away with a vital victory.
Previous 5 meetings
The Vikings meetings with Featherstone in recent times are grim reading with the Rovers winning the last 8 games including leaving Widnes scoreless on two occasions. That said the Featherstone of 2025 has a complete different look to the team that defeated Widnes in some of them games with quality personnel leaving.
- Widnes 0 – 8 Featherstone – August 11th 2024
- Featherstone 32 – 24 Widnes – April 21st 2024
- Featherstone 62 – 10 Widnes – September 23rd 2023
- Widnes 0 – 30 Featherstone – May 14th 2023
- Widnes 16 – 20 Featherstone – August 7th 2022
Trivia
Widnes have been kept scoreless against Featherstone in their last two home fixtures between the two teams.
Widnes have played 121 matches against Featherstone stretching back to 1906 with Widnes winning 61 of the clashes compared to Featherstone’s 55.
Back in 1988 Andy Currier holds the record for most tries in a fixture between the two teams with 5 in one game. That day Widnes won 58-2 and Currier helped himself to 34 of the points scored. On the same day Martin Offiah bagged 4 tries also leaving him second on the same list.
The biggest winning margin between the two teams belongs to Featherstone back in May 2022 when Widnes was pumped 74-6 away from home. Matt Fleming, Joe Lyons, Liam Bent and Matty Fozard remain the only survivors from the team that day to make todays match day squad, with Fozard scoring the only try for Widnes.
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