In reaction to Sunday’s defeat at Whitehaven, Widnes Vikings would like to issue the following statement to our loyal supporters:
Firstly, we would like to apologise to the supporters who made the long trip to Whitehaven on Sunday. Giving up a significant portion of your Bank Holiday weekend in order to support us is something that deserves a lot more in return, and we are sorry that we let you down.
The purpose of this update is to address performances this season, the issues faced behind the scenes and to inform our supporters of the work that has been going on for some time now to ensure a more competitive squad for 2022 is in place.
As mentioned at our Members Monday event, held on August 9th, we addressed the fact that recruitment for 2021 hadn’t paid off. Ahead of the current campaign, we had assembled a squad we were confident could compete for a play-off spot in the Championship, however this sadly hasn’t been the case.
We have been without key members of our squad for prolonged periods of the season, with a significant percentage of our playing budget unavailable at key moments during the year. Injuries are part of the sport, however we could not have foreseen the long-term absences that we have had to contend with throughout 2021. We have learned from this experience and tried to manage this risk in our 2022 recruitment and retention so far.
Every effort has been made to plug the gaps left by these absences, consistently between staff looking for recruitment opportunities throughout the year. This season, those opportunities have been harder to come by than ever before, with clubs reluctant to commit to long-term loan deals due to the potential of Covid-19 ruling out players and putting fixtures in jeopardy.
Also, with loan signings, the needs of the parent club always come first, which we have seen with the recalling of Eribe Doro, Ellis Robson and Brad O’Neill. With an increase in fixture congestion at the top level due to Covid related postponements, opportunities to bring players in on loan deals are very limited. We have been lucky enough in recent weeks to be able to bring in Aiden Roden and Connor Aspey, however our attempts to add further players have been unsuccessful, in part due to transfer restrictions in place following the passing of the August deadline.
One thing the club would like to put an end to are rumours that our financial position is to blame for not adding players to our squad. This is not the case, and the club is not in financial trouble.
We understand supporters will have been worried to see only 16 players named on Sunday, however the sheer number of unavailable players made this unavoidable. 12 of the original 26-man squad put together for the 2021 season were unavailable on Sunday, along with our recent signing Lewis Hulme.
Not all of those absences were injury-related, with long-Covid, work commitments, concussion protocols and player departures all playing a part.
Of the 16 players who were named on Sunday, only 15 took to the field due to Owen Buckley suffering from sickness. Despite this, Owen put his hand up to be a part of the match day squad and made himself available if necessary, helping to cover in the case of any further injuries that may have been picked up on the day.
The majority of our more experienced players were unavailable to play at the weekend, meaning half of the players named were aged 23 or under and had also made less than 40 career appearances.
Clubs at all levels are experiencing issues similar to ours, in terms of injuries and covid-related lay-offs, however this has made it even more difficult to bring in players in the past few months. Recently we have seen Super League clubs loaning players from the Championship, such is the effect that the current situation is having throughout rugby league.
Looking ahead to the future, we can assure our supporters that every effort has been made to ensure that a squad capable of competing in the Championship is in place for 2022. As early as March, work has been going on behind the scenes to identify players who can improve our squad and ensure the retention of key members of the current set-up.
This has been seen already with the long-term retentions of Jack Owens and Danny Craven, which are key for the club moving forward. Key players Kenny Baker, Ste Tyrer and Owen Farnworth have also been tied down for 2022, with the exciting addition of Matty Fleming and the return of Sam Wilde.
Our aim for next season is to have a squad of players experienced at this level and capable of performing in the Championship, with the majority of our recruitment already complete in order to achieve this.
Out of respect for other clubs, some of our recruitment news cannot be revealed yet, but in the coming days and weeks supporters will see the shape of the 2022 squad come together. This will be the culmination of many months of hard work to ensure that next year will be a more successful one both on and off the field.
We acknowledge that mistakes have been made, which have ultimately led to the situation we are in, and as a club we take full responsibility for this. We have already learnt from those mistakes, and are actioning our plan to ensure we are in a stronger position going into next season.
Ultimately, though, we can’t achieve anything without the backing of our loyal supporters, who we understand are disappointed at this moment in time. If we can get through this difficult period together though, we will do all we can to ensure that it will all be worth it in the end.
