Should Widnes be in Super League

Yesterday’s dismal 36-12 defeat at Castleford seemingly marked a new low in Widnes Vikings’ season. Some Widnes fans expected a victory at Wheldon Road, others simply expected a sterner performance than has been the norm this year, but all were disappointed. The online rumblings of discontent are growing, to the extent that it wouldn’t be surprising if by season’s end Widnesians were engaging in Blackburn Rovers-style protests against Dennis Betts and Paul Cullen.

The fans had perhaps marked out the Castleford game for a number of reasons: the reaction that should have been sparked by the pitiful 62-0 defeat at St Helens, the long break since that game providing time to prepare, and the motivation that ought to have come from playing against beatable opposition.

For the neutral observer there were a few improvements on display, especially in defence. Widnes’ defence has been consistently poor this season, with players falling off tackles, not moving towards opponents in possession and being caught out by dummies or relatively simple passing moves. Yesterday things were different as a much-improved Vikings defence kept Castleford at bay, seemingly against the odds, on a number of occasions. But Widnes just couldn’t keep this up, and the Tigers posted five tries in the last half hour of play to ensure the away side once again conceded over thirty points.

Widnes’ performances this season are a stark contrast to their performances in 2002, the club’s debut season in Super League. The newly-promoted Vikings shocked many with their performances – the prevailing attitude from some quarters would be that Widnes would be fortunate to win a single game – causing a number of upsets, and narrowly missing out on a place in the play-offs. A decade later anything other than a bottom-placed finish would now be regarded as a success.

Perhaps there’s an argument here for the return of promotion and relegation, or maybe for a reduction in the number of clubs in Super League. Perhaps the argument is simply that Widnes shouldn’t be in Super League.

Would that be unfair? The fans themselves often argue that Widnes look more like a Championship than a Super League club. (That’s not surprising really – a top Championship club might be able to convert itself into a Super League club by adding a few extra players, but the best a mid-table Championship club can hope for is to convert itself into a better Championship club.) Most of the ire is directed towards Dennis Betts, who is certainly inexperienced and doesn’t seem to be doing a great job, and who Widnes fans regard as a dangerous incompetent.

Some criticism is even being made of chairman Steve O’Connor, who for the last few years has been a god to the people of Widnes. Yet some of his decisions are now being questioned, such as giving Betts a new two-year contract in 2011. Perhaps people are realising that O’Connor doesn’t actually know all that much about the game. Presumably if anyone asked him whether he wants a new man in charge of the players O’Connor would reply, “Yes I think so – Kenny’s a legend at Liverpool but I think we need a better manager if we want to get back into the Champions’ League”.

It would be harsh to criticise the RFL for awarding a license to Widnes. When the Crusaders were given their license in 2008 any fool could see it was stupid idea and that the club wasn’t prepared for top-flight rugby, but Widnes looked like a club ready to make the step up. Indeed, as I’ve argued before, Widnes was the outstanding club outside Super League and deserved their license.

 
What’s the solution? It’s hard to imagine another Championship club doing a better job, so perhaps a reduction in the number of Super League clubs is desirable. As for Widnes, they’re in for three years at least, and so they need to start focusing on what improvements can be made for the next two years. Betts has already characterised 2012 as “year zero”, so perhaps this season just needs to be written off. That might be hard for Widnes fans to take – the last few seasons have been spent just waiting for the RFL to confirm the award of a license and have plumbed untold depths of pointlessness – but this, unfortunately is the nature of the three-yearly license system.

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Twitter: @Tony_LoveRL