Albert granted visa as Rule updates Widnes fans

New Widnes signing Wellington Albert has been granted a visa and has officially began his time with the club.

Albert, along with brother Stanton, arrived in the UK late last week.

Stanton, who only signed less than a fortnight ago, is still awaiting his visa approval.
Wellington will wear squad number 36.

Meanwhile, Vikings chief executive James Rule has provided a pre-season update to fans.

In it, he reveals that more than 600 members haven’t renewed, though this has been offset by 250 new sign-ups.

He also praises the competition for places in the squad, and talks about the tragic situation surrounding Kato Ottio.

Of the club’s new signings, Rule said: “Each of the players we’ve signed has the capabilities to improve what we do. Sam (Wilde) shone on loan, and we were keen to make his move permanent. Krisnan’s (Inu) career speaks for itself, and with his game-changing abilities he’s one of our highest profile signings in years.”

“And then of course there’s the Albert brothers. I actually spent some time calling Stronghold Members at the end of last year, to thank them for renewing or to encourage them to stay with us for 2018.

“In many phone calls, people talked about wanting us to sign big, intimidating forwards and we’ve certainly done that!

“Anyone who saw them at the World Cup will know they’re tough, powerful and don’t take a backwards step – people will love watching them.”

Widnes open the Super League season with a home game against Catalans, the team they faced in their last game of last season, on Sunday February 4.