Some players disrespected own team-mates in loss at Salford, reveals Francis Cummins

Widnes interim coach Francis Cummins said some of his players disrespected the club in their loss at Salford.

The Vikings lost 26-12 to the Red Devils at the AJ Bell Stadium on Thursday night.

Widnes currently sit rock bottom of the Super League table, seven points away from eighth-placed Huddersfield.

And Cummins was disappointed by his side’s performance against Salford.

He said: “There were a few players who disrespected their own team-mates, coaching staff and the club.

“It is difficult to put into words without swearing. I thought we let ourselves down which has been the pattern for most of the year. We shot ourselves in the foot with yardage errors.

“We get into a position where we are doing well and in charge of the game but we give it away. This is not taking anything away from Salford, they were down to their bare bones, but they kept completing and completing.

“We are making no excuses. We had enough to win that game but we can’t get out of the cycle of making simple errors or an individual goes on something he thinks is better than what the team should be doing and then not coming up with a big play.”

Widnes co-captain Chris Houston was sent off in the latter stages of the game. He was originally shown a yellow card for a late shot on Greg Burke, but received a red card after sarcastically clapping the referee’s decision.

Cummins has had his say on the incidents.

He added: “I didn’t think it was a yellow card.

“It didn’t look late to me. I think he was committed but sometimes you get decisions against you.

“I would say that Chris is an easy player to penalise and he is well previewed by the referees.

“The thing (clap) that came afterwards was inexcusable. He probably thinks that he doesn’t get an even keel with some of the refs for certain things, but he can’t be doing stuff like that and I told him that in the changing rooms.”

Next up for Widnes is a game against Wakefield Trinity at the Mobile Rocket Stadium next Sunday, 3pm kick-off.