[Winslade's Offload]

Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Sat Jun 29, 2019 4:20 pm  

http://www.widnesvikings.co.uk/news/art ... -the-board With a fall in their central funding looming for 2020, Widnes have had to go for a part time squad and are in discussions with their current playing roster about next year. I am not sure what they will do about their Academy, but they will be even more dependant on bringing through good quality youngsters now.We know that Wire have been in discussions with them so it will be interesting to see if there are any link ups, plus the Anthony Gelling situation which was touted as a done deal; https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/warringt ... ing-20566/

http://www.widnesvikings.co.uk/news/art ... -the-board With a fall in their central funding looming for 2020, Widnes have had to go for a part time squad and are in discussions with their current playing roster about next year. I am not sure what they will do about their Academy, but they will be even more dependant on bringing through good quality youngsters now.We know that Wire have been in discussions with them so it will be interesting to see if there are any link ups, plus the Anthony Gelling situation which was touted as a done deal; https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/warringt ... ing-20566/

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Sat Jun 29, 2019 7:59 pm  

That's terrible news. Shows the perilous state of pro RL at the moment.

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Sun Jun 30, 2019 6:21 pm  

Sad to hear. Possibly a long road back and there is still hope. Clearly, their decline is not a recent happening but as a result of serial prolonged mismanagement. Bradford seem to have turned the corner let's hope Widnes can work their way back on a more solid footing.

Going to miss those derbys

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:51 pm  

Desperate days indeed. A right royal tonking at Bradford yesterday too....and Gelling was atrocious!! But in true RL spirit we had a good day and far far too much to drink!! They’ll never be able to take that from us!!

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:28 pm  

After the SOC & JR chapter drew to a close, and the relief of having a club and team to support, Widnes made a good start to the league campaign. The 12 point handicap made the top 5 a tough ask, and the first objective at the start of the season must have been to survive another relegation. I had heard talk from relatives who have turned to the dark (black and white) side some while ago, that Widnes were going part time. I assumed this was common knowledge, but the result following the announcement made me wonder. Perhaps there was a sense of the reality kicking in before taking the field at Odsal, that contributed to a poor performance. Looks like its time for Widnes to roll back up the sleeves and make the best of the current situation, and make sure they avoid another relegation.

Widnes have struggled to get in, and stay in, superleague ever since they were dumped on by the RFL before the initial SL season. I can still remember the relief and sense of optimism shared by both sets of supporters on that Good Friday afternoon at Naughton Park, when it was announced that both teams were sanctioned a place in the very first SL season. The spectre of a merger was gone, and we all had a new era of summer rugby to look forward to. Widnes, were then shat on from a massive height, and they've never really recovered from that blow. That could so easily have been us, and Maurice Lindsay had a lot to answer for.

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Mon Jul 01, 2019 10:25 pm  

It can happen so easily! Long and sad discussions with the Bradford faithful yesterday and much reminiscing about our glory years! Toronto Catalans London in next years SL maybe. No Bradford Widnes or Leeds? Is that progress. In ours and Bradfords cases the finances went wrong but is it all about money? Maybe but could The SL end up as a North American franchise? It’s easy to have your opinions when you’re still in the club and point the finger at those who have fallen. But beware it can happen to anyone!

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Mon Jul 01, 2019 10:39 pm  

As much as I miss the Widnes games their fans were pretty odious in the main, let's not beatify them. I remember as a young man a good number of them spat on Jonathan Davies as he came out of the tunnel at Naughton Park when he played for us. They were vile then and pretty obnoxious now.

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:32 am  

Dual Reg is the way to go for Widnes. Works for both them and us, and isn’t far to travel for either set of fans if they want to see their favourite players when they’ve been bumped up or down a division.

There should be some sort of walk-up discount on production of a season ticket for the dual ref club.

Re: Widnes revert to part time for 2020 : Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:44 am  

Wires71 wrote:

As much as I miss the Widnes games their fans were pretty odious in the main, let's not beatify them. I remember as a young man a good number of them spat on Jonathan Davies as he came out of the tunnel at Naughton Park when he played for us. They were vile then and pretty obnoxious now.

I've not seen anyone trying to beautify our fans. Widnes had and still have an element of support I'm not proud of but the majority of us are decent sorts. This isn't a situation about condemning supporters. If it was I assure you Warrington would be in as much trouble as anyone!