Widnes welcome back an abundance of former players to the DCBL stadium as they look to kick start their Championship season
A total of 8 former Vikings are listed in North Wales Crusaders 21 man squad to face Widnes Sunday afternoon including, academy products Lloyd Roby, Jayden Hatton and Ollie Brookes.
Former fan favourite Ant Walker is also in contention to play alongside Jake Spedding, Pat Moran, Dec Patton and Danny Addy who made one appearance for Widnes on loan under Simon Finnigan.
With so many former players in the ranks of the opposition, Sunday’s game promises to be a fiery affair.
Tough preparation
Widnes head into the game off the back of two stern tests against high calibre opposition. Widnes fell to a brutal 50-12 pre-season defeat to a red hot Warrington team, who are desperate to start the season strong.
This was followed by a 44-12 defeat in round one against competition favourites London Broncos. Despite an unkind score line the Vikings had their chances throughout the match and one on one defensive efforts eventually cost the group.
A turn in form
From defeats to a victory and last week Widnes met St Helens based amateur team Thatto Heath in the Challenge cup. Ironically in 2019 Thatto Heath beat North Wales 16-14 in the Challenge Cup on home soil to progress through to the next round.
Despite a warning sign of a potential Banana skin, Widnes professionally dispatched Thatto running out 76-0 winners with Mike Butt claiming a hat trick and Nathan Connell grabbing the headlines with an almost faultless display from Full-back.
The oppositions preparation
As for North Wales they faced a rather youthful Wigan team in pre-season winning the clash 34-22. On the day the hosts claimed a record 1,509 attendance, the highest on record since based at Colwyn bay.
Prior to this they was soundly beaten 50-24 away at Barrow in their other pre-season fixture.
Their pre-season was followed up with a 110-0 victory over Bedford Tigers in the Challenge Cup last week. Despite the impressive scoreline Bedford finished third in the Southern Conference, several divisions lower than the Vikings Challenge Cup opponents Thatto Heath.
North Wales was awarded the dreaded bye round on the opening day of the season, meaning they head into Sunday’s game with no league form since lifting the League One trophy last season.
Widnes will hope their start against full time opponents will work to their advantage, as the club look to secure a first league victory of the season in front of a healthy home crowd.
One to watch (Dec Patton)
This weeks one to watch could of been a number of players, but it has to be pantomime villain Dec Patton. The former Widnes man was part of Allan Colemans squad last season.
Despite having the third most assists for Widnes in 2025 with 13, his face never quite fit in the minds of a vast amount of supporters.
It is expected he will now partner his former Swinton team mate Jordy Gibson at Half-back on Sunday. Patton arguably played his best Rugby in recent times alongside Gibson and will no doubt be out to silence his critics and former team mates.
His battle with Jordan Abdull is intriguing and who ever comes out on top in the kicking for position battle will go a long way to securing victory for their respective team.
